Class b, \ "\ Q> 

Book A 



LiVeg of Our 1 Pfegidenfcg. 



COMPLETE BIOGRAPHIES 



ipi the Presidents of % Ugitecl States, 



PROM THE FORMATION OF THE GOVERNMENT TO THE PRESENT TIME: 



INCIDENTALLY EMBRACING 



A History of tills Country tor More to One Hundred Years, 



BY W. A. PETERS. 



With Full Page Portraits and Numerous Other Illustrations. 

NEW YORK : 
M. i;UP r rOx\, Publisher, 
No. 3 Park Place, 
1884. 



COPYRIGHT, 1884, 
BY "F. M. LUPTON. 



PREFACE. 



In presenting to the public, in this work, the lives of the 
Presidents of the United States, the author has been actuated 
not only by the ordinary motives of the biographer and his- 
torian, but also by an earnest desire to present to the youth of 
the land for their admiration, ambition and emulation the 
noblest examples of self-made manhood the world ever saw. 

Human history fails to present, since governments began, a 
succession of rulers who have so generally risen from humble 
positions, and, by the inherent and cultivated elements of true 
and noble manhood, reached such sublime heights in the 
records of individual achievement and greatness. In all those 
qualities through which they have improved their own condi- 
tion and that of their fellow men, they outrank the noblest 
Roman patrician and the sublimes t Grecian philosopher. 

In no other historical or biographical events could the peculiar 
advantages and blessings of our form of government be so con- 
spicuously set forth to the world as in the manner in which 
these men have respectively risen step by step, successively oc- 
cupied the highest position within the gift of the people, and 
passed into the serene and dignified retirement of the statesman 
and the patriot, while the rising generation who have followed 
their example step forward to take their places. 

The author's work, however, would not be complete, were it 
only a biographical eulogy, filled with sentiments of praise and 
incidents of personal life . The endeavor has been also to embrace 
in the work as much of the history of our country as is con- 
nected with the public career of the Presidents. Such a history 
cannot fail of being interesting to every American citizen, em- 
bracing, as it naturally should, particular records of many im- 
portant events which are mentioned but briefly in general his- 



iv 



PREFACE. 



tory. Such historical events become not only more interesting, 
but are more easily remembered by their association with the 
life of a particular President. The profession of politics is also 
more clearly outlined in such a work, and each administra- 
tion naturally forms an era in our history marked by dividing 
lines which do not exist in the ordinary records of national 
events. 

Thus the life of Washington has its clearly defined historical 
era, beginning with the Indian wars and the French and English 
war for supremacy on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, embrac- 
ing his personal connection with our war for independence and 
ending with his retirement from public life. 

The life of John Adams may be said to embrace the diplo- 
matic era of our early history. To that of Thomas Jefferson 
more properly belongs the era of our ablest statesmanship, 
including the Declaration of Independence, the noblest expo- 
nent of political sentiments ever given to the world. 

The War of 1812 is inseparably connected with the adminis- 
tration of James Madison, save so far as its greatest victory 
associates it with Andrew Jackson and binds him in memory 
with its halo of glory. 

To Jackson and Harrison more properly belongs the era of our 
Indian wars after the establishment of the Union, while with 
the biographies of Taylor and Pierce are entwined the interest- 
ing incidents of the Mexican War. 

Next arose in our history a series of fierce political contests on 
the question of slavery and its extension, embracing several ad- 
ministrations, and culminating with that of Abraham Lincoln, 
during which the great war was waged which secured universal 
freedom in our land and the permanency of the Union. 

The author's endeavor has been in this manner to so entwine 
the history of our country with the biography of her greatest 
heroes and statesmen that it cannot fail of being interesting and 
instructive to both young and old. It has also been the en- 
deavor to so compile and condense that the information is con- 
tained in a single volume of such moderate size that it is brought 
easily within the reach of all, and especially of that class of the 
rising youth who, to succeed in life, must, like so many of 



PREFACE. 



V 



our Presidents, make themselves. Here there is food for study, 
food for admiration and food for example and ambition. 

If these purposes have been accomplished in this work, the 
author will fee gratified that the labor expended on its pages 
has contributed to a better knowledge of the Presidents of the 
United States and the history of our country connected with 
their public life, and he will rest content with any share of 
appreciation the public may bestow upon his labor. 



W. A. PETERS. 



CONTE NTS. 

PAGE. 

George Washington 11 

John Adams 49 

Thomas Jefferson 75 

James Madison. . 109 

James Monroe 1 25 

John Quincy Adams 137 

Andrew Jackson * 151 

Martin Van Buren 175 

William Henry Harrison 183 

John Tyler 199 

James K Polk 203 

Zachary Taylor 211 

Millard Fillmore 2.9 

Franklin Pierce 235 

James Buchanan 245 

Abraham Lincoln . . 261 

Andrew Johnson 303 



CONTENTS. vii 

PAGE. 

Ulysses S. Grant 323 

Rutherford B. Hayes 351 

James A. Garfield 367 

Chester A. Arthur 395 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE. 

Portrait of George Washington 10 

The Old Elm Tree 21 

Dorchester Heights 25 

Washington Crossing the Delaware 32 

Washington's Headquarters at Newburgh 39 

Old Family Vault 47 

Portrait of John Adams 48 

Continental Currency 51 

Battle of Bunker HiU 57 

Independence Hall, Philadelphia 68 

Portrait of Thomas Jefferson 74 

Residence of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, Va 78 

Fac-Simile of the Signatures to the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence 91 

Tomb of Jefferson ... 105 

Portrait of James Madison 108 

Portrait of James Monroe 124 

The Capitol at Washington 131 

Portrait of John Quincy Adams 136 

Portrait of Andrew Jackson 150 

Statue of Andrew Jackson, New Orleans, La 171 

Portrait of Martin Van Buren 174 

Portrait of William Henry Harrison 182 

Portrait of John Tyler 198 

Portrait of James K. Polk 202 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. IX 

PAGE. 

Portrait of Zachary Taylor 210 

Portrait of Millard Fillmore 228 

Portrait of Franklin Pierce 234 

Portrait of James Buchanan 244 

The White House 252 

The East Eoom 253 

Portrait of Abraham Lincoln 260 

The Early Home of Abraham Lincoln 262 

Mr/Lincoln's Residence at Springfield 274 

The Tomb of Lincoln 300 

Portrait of Andrew Johnson 302 

Birthplace of Andrew Johnson at Raleigh, N. C 304 

Portrait of Ulysses S. Grant 322 

The Birthplace of General Grant 324 

Portrait of Rutherford B. Hayes , . . . 350 

Portrait of James A. Garfield 366 

Mr. Garfield's Residence at Mentor, Ohio 380 

Portrait of Chester A. Arthur 394 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



" Immortal Washington! to thee they pour 
A grateful tribute to thy natal hour, 
Who strike the lyre to Liberty, and twine 
Wreaths for her triumphs— for they all are thine. 
Wooed by thy virtues to the haunts of men, 
From mountain precipice and rugged glen , 
She bade thee vindicate the rights of man, 
And in her march 'twas thine to lead the van." 

There is in the history of every nation a heroic age when some 
grand and noble spirit rises sublimely at the critical period of 
her existence; some strong arm, some master mind, some 
noble heart, to do and dare and conquer for the right. 

In Washington was our country blessed with such a sublime 
hero in her darkest hour of peril, and it becomes our proud and 
pleasant duty to record in these pages the historical facts which 
have made his name shine like a star in all lands. 

The subject of this sketch, George Washington, was born on 
the 22d of February, 1732, on the banks of the beautiful Potomac 
River, in Virginia. His father was Augustine Washington, the 
son of John Washington, who, nearly two centuries ago, left 
England in company with his brother Lawrence and settled in 
Virginia, where John married and raised a family, of whom 
Augustine was the second son. Augustine was married twice. 
His first wife was Jane Butler, by whom he had several chil- 
dren. His second wife was Mary Ball, who is so well known to 
American history as the revered mother of George Washington. 



12 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Augustine Washington died when George was about ten years 
of age. Of his life, business and prominent traits of character 
but little is known. One incident, however, stands out in his- 
tory to mark his nobility of soul — his sublime reply to his son: 
" I would rather lose a thousand trees than have my boy tell a 
lie." But if George was blessed with a noble father, he was 
fortunate in having a mother who was an honor to him in every 
quality of maternal excellence, and who, on the death of her 
husband, devoted herself to the earnest work of securing an 
education for the son who was to become so conspicuous in 
after years. The means of education at that period were of 
course very limited, and a grammatical knowledge of the Eng- 
lish language, mathematics, history, natural and moral philoso- 
phy formed the course of his youthful studies. Of this educa- 
tion mathematics formed by far the most important part. This 
proved of great advantage to him in early life in qualifying 
him for the office of practical surveyor, and in later years in its 
connection with military science. His manuscripts of business 
rules and forms of commercial paper, prepared at an early age, 
gave indications of superior qualifications of mind and of his 
''earnest devotion to acquiring a knowledge of those things 
which would most fit him for practical business in life. At 
fifteen, his education being nearly completed, he was desirous 
to enter into active fife, and obtained the berth of a midshipman 
in the British navy, but seeing his mother in tears at the thought 
of parting with him, his great affection and reverence for her 
dissuaded him from the adoption of this course of life. 

Of the early youth of Washington very few facts have been 
preserved in history, He had the natural passions of a boy for 
the active sports and games of school days, but he possessed 
more dignity than was customary at his age, and he was pro- 
verbial for manly bravery. Full of morality, dignity and cour- 
age, he was ready to defend others as well as himself. His well- 
developed physique and proverbial strength were as conspicuous 
in his boyhood as in after years, and served to win for him both 
admiration and respect. But if conspicuous for those qualities, 
how much more admired was he for his moral traits of character 
and for his deep and earnest love and veneration for his mother. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



13 



During all these years he was acquiring the rudiments of a 
good English education, and having applied himself with en- 
ergy, he acquired the fundamental principles of knowledge 
which so eminently fitted him in after years for his successful 
military leadership and eminent statesmanship. There is no 
brighter example in human record of the tree inclining to the 
bend of the twig than the relationship of Washington's man- 
hood to the noble traits of his boyish character. He appeared 
instinctively to cultivate every quality of heart and soul and 
mind necessary to fit him for his conspicuous after life, as 
though he had been selected at his birth as the instrument of a 
nation's redemption. 

After leaving school, and while he was still under sixteen 
years of age, he became acquainted with Lord Fairfax while 
residing with his brother, Lawrence "Washington, at Mount 
Vernon, and so won upon the confidence and friendship of Fair- 
fax that he employed young Washington to survey his immense 
tracts of land granted him by the Crown, which were located in 
the wilderness of the Alleghanies. This was an undertaking 
requiring the greatest moral courage and physical endurance. 
To accomplish it Washington set out with a few attendants in 
the early spring, while snow and ice still covered the ground, 
and through pathless wildernesses, among savages and wild 
beasts, they marched by day and slept by night, sometimes in 
tents, occasionally in the wigwams of friendly Indians, and 
often under the starry sky. By day all sorts of obstacles and 
dangers were encountered — swollen streams, mountainous rocks, 
dense and impenetrable forests and swamps, besides occasional 
hostile savages and ferocious wild beasts, which we might say, 
in grim humor, had to be surveyed around. It was through 
such difficulties as this that Washington accomplished the first 
labor of his business life. 

The success of his undertaking and the accuracy of the survey 
were such that he was then appointed as a public surveyor, in 
which position he diligently continued for three years, at which 
time he had so attracted public attention by his abilities that he 
was appointed one of the adjutants general of Virginia, being then 
but nineteen years of age. When scarcely twenty-one he was 



14 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



employed by the government of his native colony in an enter- 
prise of very considerable importance. 

The French, as the first European discoverers of the Missis- 
sippi River, claimed all those extensive regions whose waters 
emptied into that river, and they had just formed the plan of 
connecting their possessions in America by the union of Louisi- 
ana and Canada. In pursuance of this design a line of military 
posts from the lakes to the Ohio River had been commenced in 
the year 1753. This line of forts ran within the boundaries of 
Virginia, and the Governor of that province deemed it his duty 
to remonstrate against this encroachment, which he considered 
in violation of previous treaties. He therefore determined to 
send an agent to the French commander on the Ohio to convey 
his views upon this important and delicate subject. For this 
purpose Mr. Washington was the person selected. 

In discharge of this trust he set out about the middle of No- 
vember from Wills' Creek, then an extreme frontier settlement, 
and through an unexplored tract of morasses and forests, over 
rivers and difficult passages and among hostile savages, for 
over five hundred miles he pursued his dangerous journey. 
After many hardships he at last reached the Monongahela, 
where he learned that the French General was dead and that 
the greater part of the army had retired to winter quarters. 
Here, after spending a few days among friendly Indians, he 
wisely secured the services of some of their chiefs, who guided 
him to the fort at French Creek, where he found the command- 
ing officer on the Ohio. Delivering his letters, in three or four 
days he received an official reply, and immediately set out on 
his return. Finding the snow deep and his horses weakened 
with fatigue, he determined to pursue his way on foot, and 
leaving the luggage, provisions and horses with the remainder 
of the expedition, he took his necessary papers, a gun and pack, 
and set out on foot with a single companion. It soon became 
evident that their journey was not to be without dangerous in- 
cidents, for on the next day they fell in with a party of French 
Indians, one of whom fired upon them. Taking this Indian 
prisoner, they kept him with them until nine o'clock in the 
evening, when they released him and walked without stopping 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



15 



all the rest of the night, in order to be beyond the reach of 
pursuit. 

When they again reached the Alleghany River the ice wag 
drifting down the stream with dangerous rapidity, which neces- 
sitated building a raft to cross. All day they worked to launch 
a poor, frail construction of logs and grape vine, and just as 
night was closing down they Ventured on it into the stream. 
In this perilous voyage Washington was thrown into the water, 
from which with great difficulty he rescued himself by clam- 
bering on the logs. Passing the night on an island, without 
fire, they next morning found the river frozen over, and com- 
pleted their crossing on the ice. 

The answer of the French commandant was entirely unsatis- 
factory, as it indicated no disposition to withdraw from the dis- 
puted territory. It was thereupon determined by the Assembly 
of Virginia to maintain by force the rights of the British Crown. 
Immediate action was taken on the defiant attitude of the 
French, and a regiment of three or four hundred men was 
raised and the command given to Mr. Fry, while Washington 
was appointed lieutenant-colonel. Desirous to engage in active 
service, and take as early measures as possible in defense of the 
colony, Washington obtained permission to march in advance 
of the other troops to Great Meadows. On reaching this place 
he learned from the friendly Indians that a party of the French 
were encamped in a valley a few miles to the west. The night 
was dark and rainy, and entirely concealed the movements of 
the troops. They surrounded the French camp and took it 
completely by surprise. The commanding officer was killed. 

Soon after this affair Colonel Fry died, and the command of 
the regiment devolved upon Washington, who speedily collected 
forces at Great Meadows to the number of four hundred men. 
A small stockade was erected, called Fort Necessity, in which 
a few soldiers were stationed to guard the horses and provisions, 
while the main body moved forward to dislodge the French 
from Fort Duquesne. They had not proceeded more than 
thirteen miles when they were informed by friendly Indians 
that the French, as numerous as pigeons in the woods, were ad- 
vancing in a hostile manner toward the English settlements, 



16 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



and also that Fort Duquesne had been strongly reinforced . This 
was a great surprise and disappointment to Washington, and in 
the critical situation it was resolved to retreat to Great 
Meadows, and every exertion was made to render Fort Neces- 
sity strong enough to resist an attack. Before the completion 
of the works, however, the fort was attacked by a considerable 
force, the assailants being protected by trees and high grass. 
The Americans received them with great bravery, and "Wash- 
ington distinguished himself by his coolness and military skill. 
After an entire day's fierce engagement the French general de- 
manded a parley and offered terms of capitulation. These were 
refused, but others were offered and accepted during the night. 
The fort was surrendered on condition that Washington and his 
soldiers should march out with the honors of war, retaining 
their arms and baggage, and proceed without molestation 
to the Virginia settlements. On their return a public vote of 
thanks was tendered to Washington and the officers under his 
command for their conduct in the affair, and three hundred 
pistoles in silver were distributed among the soldiers. 

The dispute with the French in respect to the Ohio lands, 
which commenced in Virginia, was vigorously taken up in 
England, and two regiments were at once ordered to America 
to maintain the claim of the British Crown to the territory in 
dispute. These troops arrived in the early part of 1755, under 
the command of General Braddock, who invited Washington to 
serve during the campaign as a volunteer aide-de-camp. This 
invitation he at once accepted, and joined the regiment on its 
march to Fort Cumberland. At this post the expedition was 
unfortunately detained until near the middle of June, waiting 
for teams and army stores, and by the time they were ready to 
march Washington was prostrated by a serious illness, but, 
with his characteristic spirit, he refused to remain at the fort, 
and accompanied the army in a covered wagon. The object of 
the campaign being to capture Fort Duquesne by a rapid march 
and possible surprise, Washington advised the general to leave 
his heavy artillery and baggage behind, and to press forward 
with a chosen body of troops as expeditiously as possible. This 
advice being adopted, twelve hundred men were selected, to be 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



17 



commanded by General Braddock in person, and to advance 
with the utmost dispatch. But, much to the disappointment of 
"Washington, the march was not made with the rpeed or caution 
the exigencies of the case required. Writing to his brother, 
Washington said : "I found that instead of pushing on with 
vigor, without regarding a little rough road, they were halting 
to level every molehill and to erect bridges over every brook." 
At Little Meadows Washington was so overcome by sickness 
that he had to remain behind for a few days until the arrival of 
Colonel Dunbar with the remainder of the army. He again 
reached the main army on the day before that eventful battle in 
our early history. This was on the 9th of July, when General 
Braddock, having crossed the Monongahela River, was pressing 
forward to Fort Dnquesne without caution or preparation to 
prevent surprise. Earnestly Washington expostulated with 
him, and explained to him the peculiar warfare of the wily 
savage, but to this advice of the colonial militia officer the vain 
and arrogant Braddock gave a contemptuous reply that he had 
nothing to fear from French or Indians, and that he commanded 
British troops whose bravery and tactics were superior to that 
of any savage foe. Thus he marched his troops on without a 
single scout until within a few mi]es of Fort Duquesne, when 
suddenly they fell into that terrible and deadly ambush so 
familiar to history as one of the most stupid and obstinate 
blunders ever made by a military man. Here the hidden foe 
of French and Indians in the high grass and behind trees poured 
their deadly volleys of musketry into the broken and disordered 
ranks, and with dead and dying strewing the ground in every 
direction, the greatest consternation prevailed, and officers and 
soldiers alike went down or fled, unable to see or fight the'r foe. 
Washington and his Virginia militia alone were cool, arid they 
alone saved the remnant of the British army from entire de- 
struction. Skilled in the Indian mode of warfare, the "Virginia 
troops took to the shelter of the trees, and by their well-directed 
fire held the savages in check and stopped the relentless pursuit 
and butchery. Braddock was soon shot down, and the entire 
defense devolved on Washington, who rode through the hottest 
of the engagement and had two horses killed under him and 



18 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



four bullets passed through his coat. It seems indeed a Provi- 
dential interposition that saved him from the fate of those 
around him. 

Never before was an army more completely surprised in day- 
light, or thrown into greater dismay or disorder. A thousand 
deadly bullets were whistling through the forest, and hundreds 
of panic-stricken soldiers writhed in death agonies. This was 
the fearful surprise, the awful ambush against which Washing- 
ton had continually warned Braddock, who had time in his 
dying agonies, while being carried to the camp of Dunbar, to 
realize his fatal mistake, if he did not even fully realize it on the 
field of his terrible defeat, while Washington's heroic deeds 
upon that bloody field stand out as one of the brightest pages of 
his renown. 

Intelligence of the defeat of Braddock and of the withdrawal 
of the regular forces from Virginia arrived while the Assembly 
of that colony was still in session, and, realizing that the de- 
fense of the frontier settlements depended on them, they at once 
resolved to raise a regiment of sixteen companies. The com- 
mand of this was given to Washington, with authority to name 
the field officers. 

In executing the duties of his office, Washington visited the 
frontiers nnd made the best disposition of the few men he found 
in the various posts. But he had not even reached Williams- 
burg when he was overtaken by a messenger with information 
that the back settlements had been broken up by the French 
and Indians, who were burning their houses, devastating their 
crops, murdering and leading into captivity the men, women 
and children. The few troops stationed on the frontiers were 
unable to render them any assistance, but retired for their own 
safety to the stockade forts. The condition of the people of the 
settlements was awful to contemplate, and in their farms and 
villages they lay down every night with the fear of a cruel 
death or a more cruel bondage continually before them. The 
people, pitiful in their helpless condition, looked to Washington 
for the protection he was unable to give. The difficulty of rais- 
ing a large number of men, and the inability of a small number 
to protect the extensive frontiers of Virginia, were continual 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



19 



sources of anxiety and distress. The cruel and relentless sav- 
ages made no distinction in their warfare. They slew the women 
and children, the aged and the helpless, as well as the men they 
found in arms. No human pen can record the horrors suffered 
by the people of the Virginia frontier. The awful scenes wit- 
nessed by Washington caused him at one time to write to the 
Governor of the province as follows : 

" The supplicating tears of the women and moving petitions 
of the men melt me into such deadly sorrow that I solemnly 
declare I could offer myself a willing sacrifice to the butcher- 
ing enemy, could that contribute to the people's ease." 

During all this time Washington was indefatigable in repre- 
senting to the Governor the wretched condition of the frontiers 
and the great defects of the existing mode of defense. He 
strongly advised the reduction of Fort Duquesne, the lurking- 
place and strongho]d of the savages, as the only means of effect- 
ually restoring security to the frontier settlements. In case this 
measure was not adopted he advised that twenty-two forts, 
extending in a line of three hundred and sixty miles, should be 
erected and garrisoned by two thousand men in constant pay 
and service. In the autumn of 1758, to the great joy of Wash- 
ington, an expedition was fitted out against Fort Duquesne, but 
on reaching the fort they found that the garrison had deserted 
it and retreated down the Ohio. The allies of the Indians having 
departed, a treaty of peace was soon made with the tribes. 
Fort Duquesne was repaired and, under the name of Fort Pitt, 
was garrisoned with two hundred men from Washington's regi- 
ment, and for a time the occupation of war was at an end. 

The great object of his wishes having been thus happily ac- 
complished, Washington resigned his commission and ended his 
career as a provincial officer. This retirement from public life 
was soon followed by a very happy event — that of his marriage 
to Mrs. Martha Custis, a young and beautiful lady of accomplish- 
ments and most amiable character. Retiring to the estate at 
Mount Vernon, which had descended to him from his brother 
Lawrence, he devoted himself assiduously to the business of 
agriculture, and became one of the greatest landholders in North 
America. His Mount Vernon estate alone consisted of nine 



20 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



thousand acres, and his domestic and farming establishments 
were composed of nearly a thousand persons. Here in this 
beautiful and quiet retreat it is probable he passed the happiest 
years of his life, full of the sweetest domestic joy and content. 
Here "Washington, in his retirement from active public services, 
had every opportunity to store his mind with the rich and varied 
knowledge which in after years so eminently fitted him for the 
leadership of a freedom -loving people. But even here he was 
not entirely free from public duties. He served the people as 
judge of a county court and as a member of the House of Bur- 
gesses of his native xorovince, in which positions he secured the 
esteem and confidence of his constituents by the firmness and 
propriety of his conduct and the uniform good sense of his 
counsels. While in this latter situation he took an active part 
in opposition to the action of the British Parliament in taxing 
the American colonies. He was elected a Representative to the 
first Congress, which met at Philadelphia in 1774, and was the 
active member of all the committees on military affairs. 

This now brings us to the grand culminating point in the his- 
tory of our country and the public career of Washington. The 
greatest principles that erer influenced human action were 
about to shake the world in revolution, and the sublime spec- 
tacle of a mere handful of freemen opposing the despotic will 
of Great Britain was to be presented to an interested and ad- 
miring world. Such an example of lofty courage and integrity 
of purpose could nowhere else be found on the pages of human 
history. The British Cabinet resolved to force the colonists into 
the submission of slaves or to destroy them. But the lordly 
power of England had ''reckoned without her host." The pa- 
triots of America were made of sterner stuff, and the elements 
of enduring manhood were as deep and strong in them as ever 
it had been in the most heroic Greek or Roman of the classic 
age. 

When the commencement of hostilities made it necessary to 
appoint a commander-in-chief of the American forces, George 
Washington was unanimously elected to the office. On receiv- 
ing from the President of Congress official notice of this appoint- 
ment he addressed that honorable and patriotic body as fellows : 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



21 



" Mr. President, although I am truly sensible of the high honor done me in 
this appointment, yet I feel great distress from a consciousness that my 
abilities and military experience may not be equal to the extensive and im- 
portant trust. However, as the Congress desire it, I will enter upon the 
momentous duty and exert every power I possess in their service and for 
support of the glorious cause. I beg they will accept my most cordial thanks 
for this distinguished testimony of their approval. But lest some unlucky 
event should happen unfavorable to my reputation, 1 beg it may be remem- 
bered by every gentleman in the room that I this day declare, with the ut- 
most sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored 
with. As to the pay, sir, I beg leave to assure the Congress that as no pecu- 
niary consideration could have tempted me to accept this arduous employ- 
ment, at the expense of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to 
make any profit from it. I will keep an exact account of my expenses; those 
I doubt not they will discharge, and that is all I desire." 



A special commission was made out for him, and at the 
same time a unani- 
mous resolution was 
adopted by Congress 
4 ' that they would 
maintain and assist 
him, and adhere to 
him with their lives 
and fortune, for the 
maintenance and 
preservation of 
American liberty." 

"Washington a t 
once prepared to 
enter upon the duties 
of his position, and 
taking a hasty leave 
of his family and 
passing a few days 
in New York, arranging some military details with General 
Schuyler, in command of the post, he proceeded to Cam- 
bridge, the headquarters of the American army. On his 
way thither he received from individuals and public bodies the 
most flattering attention and the strongest promises of support 
and assistance. A committee of the Massachusetts Congress 




THE OLD ELM TREE. 



22 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



met him at Springfield, about one hundred miles from Boston, 
and conducted him to the army, and under the historic old elm 
at Cambridge George Washington took command of the Conti- 
nental forces. 

Immediately after his arrival the Congress presented him an 
address, in which the3 r expressed their approbation of his ap- 
pointment and the great respect and affection they entertained 
for him. His reply was well calculated to increase these senti- 
ments. He returned the warmest acknowledgments of their 
kindness, and promised ever to retain it in grateful remem- 
brance. In the course of this reply he observed : 

"In exchanging the enjoyments of domestic life for the duties of my pres- 
ent honorable but arduous situation, I only emulate the virtue and public 
spirit of the whole province of Massachusetts, which, with a firmness and 
patriotism without example, has sacrificed all the comforts of social and 
political life in support of the rights of mankind and the welfare of our com- 
mon country. My highest ambition is to be the happy instrument of vindi- 
cating these rights, and to see this devoted province again restored to peace, 
liberty and safety."' 

On reaching the carnp the first movements of the Commander- 
in-Chief were directed to an examination of the strength and 
situation of his forces. They amounted to about fifteen thou- 
sand poorly armed and undisciplined militia, occupying several 
posts in an extent of about twv lve miles. Some were stationed 
at Roxbury, some at Cambridge and some on Winter and Pros- 
pect Hills, in front of Bunker Hill. A few companies were 
posted in the towns about Boston Bay, which were most ex- 
posed to attacks from British armed vessels. The troops were 
not sufficiently numerous to defend so large an extent of coun- 
try, but it was difficult to make a more compact arrangement. 
The British army was posted in three divisions. The main 
body, under General Howe, was intrenching itself on Bunker 
Hill, near Charlestown ; another division was stationed on Copp's 
Hill, and the third was strongly intrenched and fortified on 
Roxbury Neck, and light horse and infantry were stationed in 
Boston. The strength of the British forces was augmented by 
their war ships which floated defiantly in the harbor. 

The situation was certainly a discouraging one to the Ameri- 
cans. In comparison to the British regulars their army was 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



23 



miserably provided with munitions of war. The supply of amu- 
nition would not have given each soldier a dozen rounds, and, 
to add still more difficulties to the situation, the army was with- 
out discipline, and being enlisted for only a short time they 
were not submissive to the commands of their officers. This 
was the material Washington had to mould into the defense of 
the country. But with great labor and skill he brought the 
army up to a better condition, having actually reorganized his 
forces in front of the enemy. 

General Gage, who was in command of the British forces, 
whose numbers at that time amounted to some eight or ten 
thousand men, had devoted his exertions principally to self- 
defense, and with the exception of a few skirmishes both armies 
had been industriously engaged in strengthening their fortifica- 
tions. But this inactive condition of things was unsatisfactory 
to Washington, who believed that active operations should be 
undertaken to destroy the British army in Boston before it was 
reinforced, and before the resources of the colonies should be 
entirely exhausted. 

After frequently reconnoitering the situation of the enemy 
Washington was of opinion that their works could be carried by 
storm. This proposition, however, was opposed by a council of 
war as a dangerous risk which might involve the capture or de- 
struction of the army and ruin the cause. The original plan of 
continuing the blockade was therefore decided upon as the 
safest. 

During the autumn the Americans made gradual approaches to- 
ward the British posts, and the strength of the army was in- 
creased by the arrival of about fifteen hundred soldiers from 
Pennsylvania and Maryland, and, to add to the condition of the 
army, a British ordinance ship completely laden with military 
stores was captured by an American privateer under the com- 
mand of Captain Manly. At this time a serious and almost fatal 
mistake was made as to the time of enlistment of the troops. A 
Committee of Congress was appointed in September to visit the 
camp at Cambridge and confer with the chief magistrates of 
the northern colonies, and the Council of Massachusetts, on the 
continuance and regulation of the Continental army. The re- 



24 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



suit of this conference was that the new army should consist of 
twenty thousand three hundred and seventy-two men to serve 
till the last day of December. Washington, realizing that the 
term of enlistment was too short, called upon the soldiers and 
officers to make their election whether to retire or remain with 
the army. This naturally led to difficulties in effecting the re- 
enlistment. Many were unwilling to continue in the army on 
any terms, some required leave of absence to visit their fami- 
lies, and others were in doubt as to what course to pursue. To 
remove this disaffection Washington resolved to appeal directly 
to the pride and patriotism of both officers and men, and in a 
general order issued October 20th he said : 

" The times and the importance of the great cause we are engaged in allow 
no room for hesitation and delay. When life, liberty and property are at 
stake; when our country is in danger of being a melancholy scene of blood- 
shed and desolation; when our towns are laid in ashes, innocent women and 
children driven from their peaceful habitations, exposed to the rigors of an 
inclement season to depend on the hand of charity for support; when ca- 
lamities like these are staring us in the face, and a brutal, savage enemy 
threatens us and everything we hold dear with destruction from foreign 
troops, it lit- le becomes the character of a soldier to shrink from danger and 
condition for new terms. It is the general's intention to indulge both officers 
and soldiers, who compose the new army, with furloughs for a reasonable 
time; but this must be done in such a manner as not to injure the service or 
weaken the army too much at once." 

This appeal of Washington's had a beneficial effect upon 
many, but still the new regiments did not fill as rapidly as had 
been expected. Many of the old troops whose term of service 
had expired were eager to return home, while the new troops 
were slow in coming in. This condition of things often left the 
American lines in a defenseless state, and the peculiar circum- 
stances were such that Washington, in a communication to 
Congress, wrote as follows : "It is not in the pages of history 
to furnish a case like ours. To maintain a post within musket- 
shot of the enemy for six months together without ammunition, 
and at the same time to disband one army and recruit another 
within that distance of twenty odd British regiments, is more, 
probably, than ever was attempted." 

The regular force engaged for the year now amounted to 
about fifteen thousand men, and the militia to about six thou- 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



25 



sand. The troops being in good condition, Washington now 
determined to begin active operations. His plan was to take 
possession of Dorchester Heights, and by fortifying them com- 
mand Boston and the harbor. To secretly effect the occupation 
a heavy bombardment of the town and lines of the enemy was 
begun on the night of the 2d of March, 1776, and continued on 
the two succeeding nights. This so engaged the attention of 
the enemy that on the night of the 4th a detachment of troops 
under command of General Thomas crossed the neck from Rox- 

bury and took posses- _ 

sion of the Heights, 
and by working hard 
all night in the frozen 
ground, they had by 
daylight a fort 
bristling with cannon 
looking down on the 
enemy's vessels of 
war. In hope of dis- 
lodging the patriots 
the British admiral 
opened a heavy fire 
on the works, but in 
spite of his broadsides 
the fortifications con- 
tinued to grow until 
the fleet's fire was 
wholly wasted on them. The tremendous cannonading from 
the fleet and British forts in Boston on the morning when they 
discovered that the Americans were in possession of the heights, 
is described as follows by a writer on the scene : 

" Cannon shot are continually rolling and rebounding over the hill, and it 
is astonishing to observe how little our soldiers are terrified by them. During 
the forenoon we were in momentary expectation of wituessing an awful 
scene; nothing less than the carnage of Breed's Hill battle was expected. 
The royal troops are perceived to be in motion, as if embarking to pass the 
harbor and land on Dorchester shore to attack our works. The hills and 
elevations in this vicinity are covered with spectators to witness deeds of 
horror in the expected conflict. His Excellency General Washington is 




DORCHESTER HEIGHTS. 



2(3 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



present, animating and encouraging the soldiers, and they, in their turn, 
manifest their joy and express a warm desire for the approach of the enemy. 
Each man knows his place and is resolute to execute his duty." 

In expectation of dislodging the Americans, General Howe 
determined to attack the Heights, and ordered three thousand 
men on this service, but ere they could make a landing a storm 
dispersed them, and before they could again proceed the Ameri- 
can works were in such a state of security as to discourage any 
attempt against them. 

The British were now in a peculiar position, and, realizing that 
their fleet was at the mercy of the Americans, they resolved to 
evacuate Boston as quickly as possible, and were glad to leave 
the town uninjured provided Washington would not fire on 
their fleet. A communication to this effect from the Selectmen 
of Boston to Washington secured the assurance of his good 
wishes for the. safety of the town, and of his intention to allow 
the fleet to pass unmolested if they did not fire upon Boston. 
Thus, on the 17th of March the British army embarked on their 
ships, and as they went down the harbor the Americans tri- 
umphantly marched into Boston in great exultation over their 
bloodless victory. 

Throughout the entire war there was not a more glorious vic- 
tory, or one of such importance secured at so little sacrifice ; 
and to the final success of American arms must be greatly at- 
tributed this early dislodgment of the British from a harbor 
which, once strongly fortified by them, would have been held, 
and perhaps been one of the means of our ultimate subjugation. 

It being evident that the destination of the fleet and British 
army was New York, Washington at once prepared to send a 
part of his forces to that town to hold it, if possible, against the 
expected occupation by the enemy. Entering Boston with the 
remainder of his gallant army, the Commander-in-Chief was 
received with the greatest enthusiasm and delight by the in- 
habitants, while Congress passed a vote of thanks and ordered 
a medal struck to perpetuate the remembrance of the event. 

After remaining in Boston long enough to provide for the 
safety of the town, Washington marched with the main army 
to New York, and made every preparation for the defense of 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



this important position. In these labors the Americans were 
incessantly engaged until June, when the British fleets arrived 
at Sandy Hook, and with their powerful army, which had been 
reinforced, took possession of Staten Island. From there Gen- 
eral Howe sent a letter by a flag, directed to " George Washing- 
5 ton, Esq." This the General refused to receive, as it did not 
recognize the public character with which he had been invested 
by Congress. After again addressing him in the same manner, 
the British commander was at last compelled to address his 
communication to General George Washington. Thus was the 
contempt of the British forced within the limits of military 
courtesy. 

At this time the Declaration of Independence had just been 
adopted by Congress, and the issue of the war was clearly 
defined for independence and absolute separation from Great 
Britain. The effect of this upon the American army was highly 
encouraging, and added greatly to the strength of the cause for 
which they were fighting. Now, instead of a mere contest for 
their rights as subjects of the British Crown, the deathless sen- 
timents of the Declaration of Independence were set forever in 
the niche of history on the immortal Fourth of July — that day 
which lovers of freedom honor in all lands. 

On the arrival of General Howe at Staten Island the American 
army did not consist of more than ten thousand men, but the 
number was rapidly augmented until by the end of August it 
amounted to twenty-seven thousand. In the distribution of 
this force Washington exercised such excellent military skill 
that the enemy were in doubt, not only as to the number of our 
men, but also as to the most advantageous point of attack. The 
Americans were guarding every probable point of debarkation, 
and in daily anticipation of attack, Washington had prepared 
the minds of his men for expected action, and in a general or- 
der he said : 

" The time is now at hand which must probably determine whether Ameri- 
cans are to be freemen or slaves ; whether they are to have any property 
they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged 
and destroyed and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from 
which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will 
now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel 



28 



LIVES Otf OUR PRESIDENTS. 



and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of a brave resistance or the 
most abject submission. We have resolved to conquer or die. Our own, our 
country's honor call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we 
now shamefully fail we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us, 
then, rely on the goodness of our cause and on the aid of the Supreme Being, 
in whose hands victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble 
actions. The eyes of all our countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have 
their blessings and praises, \£ happily we are the instruments of saving them 
from the tyranny meditated against them. Let us, therefore, animate and 
encourage each other, and show the whole world that a freeman, contend- 
ing for liberty on his own ground, is superior to any slavish mercenary on 
earth." 

This order and appeal had scarcely been issued before the 
enemy attacked the American forces under the command of 
General Sullivan on Long Island. The armies, fighting in de- 
tachments all day, occasioned a succession of small engagements 
in which the Americans were defeated in every quarter. Their 
greatest disadvantage was a want of experience, and they also 
suffered from a lack of discipline. Night closed in on them, 
discouraged and worn out with fatigue, with the victorious 
enemy in front ready to attack them at daylight, while the 
British fleet was preparing to enter the East River to cut off 
their retreat. In this disastrous position Washington crossed 
the East River during the night, to conduct in person the 
evacuation of the island. By a most Providential occurrence, 
about two o'clock in the morning a heavy fog enveloped Long 
Island and enabled Washington to successfully conduct a re- 
treat of nine thousand men, with their baggage, provisions, 
horses and military stores, across a river more than a mile wide, 
and landed them in New York without material loss. So dense 
was the fog and of such duration, that the enemy knew nothing 
of the retreat until after the last man was safely landed in New 
York. The entire retreat was under the personal supervision 
of Washington, who remained among the men until he saw the 
last of them safely over. 

The reverse sustained by our forces had a most discouraging 
effect upon the men. The great enthusiasm of the soldiers for 
the just cause of their country and liberty led them to believe 
that the skill and discipline of the enemy could not prevail 
against them. With the utmost confidence of victory they had 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



engaged the British troops, and being thrown almost into con- 
sternation by their own defeat, they became so dispirited and 
so overrated the adroitness and skill of the enemy that they 
anticipated nothing but defeat in every movement. " Our situ- 
ation," said Washington in a letter to Congress, 4 'is truly dis- 
tressing. The check our detachment received on the twenty- 
second ultimo has dispirited too great a proportion of our troops, 
and filled their minds with apprehension and despair. The 
militia, instead of calling forth their utmost efforts to a brave 
and manly opposition, in order to repair our losses, are dismayed, 
intractable and impatient to return." 

Washington had always held the opinion that an efficient 
army could only be secured by long enlistments, and he urged 
Congress to extend the time of service, earnestly avowing 
to them that the defense of the public liberties was to be in- 
trusted only to a permanent army, regularly disciplined. He 
fully explained the difficulty of reducing militia and raw re- 
cruits to the requisite military strictness. This remonstrance 
had the desired effect, and soon after Congress resolved to raise 
eighty-eight battalions to serve during the war. It was impor- 
tant, therefore, to wear away the present campaign with as 
little loss as possible, in order to take the field in the ensuing 
year with a well organized army. 

The situation was one to call forth all the grandest qualities 
of Washington's nature, and he did what no other mortal man 
could have done — he held the army together. Thoroughly un- 
derstanding the crisis, he wisely avoided an engagement and 
resolved upon the evacuation of New York if necessary for the 
preservation of the troops. 

During this time the British commander was also actively 
preparing to bring on a general engagement, and for this pur- 
pose sent four thousand men and five ships of war up the Hud- 
son Eiver, some three miles above JSew York, to cat off the sup- 
plies and retreat of the Americans. Works had been thrown 
up at this place by the Americans, capable of defense, but upon 
the landing of the British our troops fell back from their forti- 
fications, although two brigades had been sent from the main 
army to support them. Believing that his troops would make 



30 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



a brave resistance, Washington rode at once to the scene of ac- 
tion, where he found the army in full retreat. In the greatest 
mortification at their want of courage, he attempted to rally 
them, but at the first movement of the enemy they again broke 
and fled in disorder. This cowardly action so wrought upon 
the higb and noble spirit of Washington that, for the first and 
last time in the history of the war, despair overwhelmed him, 
and he turned his horse's head toward the enemy, determined 
to seek an honorable death, and it was only by the friendly vio- 
lence of his aids that he was turned from his purpose. 

After chis action of the army Washington realized the imme- 
diate necessity of evacuating New York. This he happily ac- 
complished with the loss of only a few men, although he was 
forced to leave behind all his heavy artillery, tents and most of 
his military stores. The departure of the American troops was 
immediately followed by the entry of the British army, when 
they posted their troops in encampments across the island in 
front of the Americans, and protected their flanks from front 
to rear with ships of war. The Americans were strongly posted 
at Kingsbridge, which kept open their communication with the 
country. Another detachment also held a fortified position on 
the heights of Harlem. This post was in sight of the British 
lines, and the frequent skirmishes between them and the enemy 
were beneficial in giving the undisciplined troops experience in 
military service. 

Scarcely had the Americans retreated from New York before 
a detachment of the enemy's troops appeared in the open space 
between the two camps, and Washington ordered some troops, 
under the command of Colonel Knowlton and Major Leitch, to 
attack them. These officers displayed the utmost courage and 
most soldierly qualities in leading their men in the charge, but 
unfortunately they were both mortally wounded. After they 
were borne from the field their troops bravely continued the 
attack, and drove the enemy from the field, although the British 
greatly outnumbered them. This victory had a most beneficial 
influence on the army, and in a general order Washington 
praised the courage of the officers and men in contrast to the 
cowardly conduct of the troops on the day previous, and he 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



31 



appealed to the whole army to remember and imitate the brave 
example. To honor the memory of the brave major he gave 
out the name of ' ' Leitch " the next day for the parole, or coun- 
tersign, and he took occasion to say, in making the appointment 
to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of the colonel, that 
" the officer succeeded the gallant and brave Colonel Knowlton, 
who would have been an honor to any country, and who had 
fallen gloriously fighting at his post." 

At this time General Howe was prosecuting his scheme for 
cutting off Washington's communication with the Eastern 
States and compelling him to a general engagement. But 
Washington was too fully alive to the vital interests of his 
country to risk all on an unequal fight, and thwarting the Brit- 
ish general in this design, the latter then adopted a new plan of 
operation, and resolved upon the invasion of New Jersey. About 
the same time Fort Washington was taken by storm, with the 
loss of the entire garrison of over two thousand men as prisoners 
of war, together with all their tents and military stores. The 
capture of Fort Washington was followed by the necessary 
evacuation of Fort Lee, on the Jersey shore, leaving behind the 
baggage and artillery. These two disasters, and the invasion 
of New Jersey by the enemy, made it necessary for Washington 
and his army to fall back into that State, and keep themselves 
in front of the advancing foe to hold them in check as much as 
possible. His first stand was on the Hackensack, and then he 
was forced to fall back toward the Delaware. So close was the 
pursuit of the British that the skirmishers of one army entered 
a village as the rear guard of the other was falling back at the 
other end. Washington, however, frequently made a show of 
resistance, which halted the enemy and threw them on the de- 
fensive, making their advance more cautious, as they did not 
know how much Washington's force was being recruited in 
New Jersey. They were not aware, however, that it was one 
of the darkest hours in American history. General Howe 
had issued a proclamation as commissioner, commanding 
all persons in arms against the King to return peaceably to 
their homes, and offering a full pardon to all who would sub- 
scribe submission to the royal authority. This was issued at a 



32 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



time when the American army, reduced in numbers, worn out 
with fatigue and disheartened by defeat, were fleeing barefooted 
and almost in rags before a large, disciplined body of finely- 
armed troops. So great was the despondency in New Jersey 
that many wealthy families returned to their allegiance to the 
Crown. It is probable that all that sustained the cause was the 




WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE. 



firm and unshaken stand maintained by Congress, which, as the 
hour grew darker, blessed by the memories of those heroes, was 
only roused to more vigorous exertions for the freedom of the 
people. 

Washington had now retreated across the Delaware, and the 
elated British were only waiting for the ice to form sufficiently 
to cross and take possession of Philadelphia. The American 



GEOKGE WASHINGTON. 



33 



forces now consisted of about seven thousand men, although 
during their retreat through New Jersey they had scarcely 
amounted to half that number. The British felt so secure, with 
their weak and fleeing foe on the opposite side of the river, that 
they relaxed their vigilance and stationed their men in a very 
loose and uncovered manner. Learning of this unprotected 
situation of their detachments, Washington, saying that it was 
the time to clip their wings when they were so spread, formed 
the bold plan of recrossing the Delaware and attacking the Brit- 
ish posts on. its eastern banks. This he accomplished during a 
terrific storm at night, with billows and ice almost crushing the 
boats and actually preventing two out of the three divisions 
from effecting the crossing. With this main division of a little 
over two thousand men, Washington pushed rapidly ahead to 
Trenton, where he surprised fifteen hundred Hessians and 
British light horse, So great was their surprise that, after their 
commanding officer, Colonel Rahl, was mortally wounded, they 
threw down their arms and surrendered over nine hundred 
prisoners, six pieces of artillery, a thousand stand of arms and 
some military stores. After this capture, Washington very 
wisely recrossed the Delaware. After securing his prisoners 
and giving his men two or three days' rest, he returned and took 
possession of Trenton. The next day, however, Lord Comwallis 
moved forward with a numerous force and drew up in front of 
Trenton about sundown. Here the situation of the Americans 
would have been critical had the British forced an immediate 
engagement, but Cornwallis, feeling confident of capturing the 
entire army, deferred the attack until the following morning. 
Washington being upon the opposite side of the creek which 
ran through the town, had strongly guarded the passes, and 
conceived the idea of withdrawing from his position during the 
night and making a forced march on the rear of the detachment 
of the enemy at Princeton. To conceal his movement from 
Cornwallis, he had stationed guards to perform their usual 
rounds until near daylight, and kept the camp fires burning all 
night. Washington reached Princeton early in the morning, 
and would have completely surprised the British had not three 
of their regiments met him on their way to Cornwallis' camp. 



34 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



After a hot engagement, in which Washington bravely led his 
troops, the British were forced back, with a loss of one hundred 
killed and three hundred prisoners. 

These victories naturally revived the hopes of the American 
army and the entire country, and their results were of the ut- 
most importance to the cause. Philadelphia was saved for the 
winter, and New Jersey was recovered from the control of the 
British, who, from the wholesome check they had received, 
were inspired with respect, if not even fear, for the Americans, 
and they moved with so much slowness and caution that many 
advantages were thereby secured for our army. The character 
of the Commander-in-Chief rose higher than ever in public esti- 
mation, and the influence upon enlistment was very beneficial 
at the time. The campaign having been carried into January, 
it was now advisa ble for the army to go into whiter quarters, 
which Washington selected at Morristown, at which place he 
was secure from molestation by the British, who had an exag- 
gerated idea as to Washington's force. The remainder of the 
winter was therefore passed with occasional skirmishes, in 
which the Americans were generally victorious. 

In the spring Washington had much trouble and labor in as- 
sembling the troops from the different States, owing to a desire 
of certain States, fearing invasion, to retain part of their troops 
at home for defense, and to nothing but Washington's great 
personal influence is due the successful reorganization of the 
army. 

The British opened the campaign about the first of June, and 
advanced their forces toward Philadelphia, in Somerset County, 
New Jersey, from which position they fell back to New Bruns- 
wick. Washington, from a number of advances and retreats 
made by the British without any apparent purpose, believed 
that they intended to move up the Hudson River, and to thwart 
their probable oojecb he detached a brigade to reinforce the 
Northern division of his army. At this time the cause of free- 
dom received great encouragement and assistance from France 
in the arrival of two French vessels with twenty- four thousand 
stand of arms, which placed our army on a more equal war 
footing with the enemy. During the month of August Wash- 



GEORGE WASHINGTOi:* 



S5 



ington received information that the British had taken posses- 
sion of Chesapeake Bay and landed an army near Philadelphia. 
Washington at once ordered the divisions of his army to unite 
in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, find called f jr the militia 
of the adjoining States to take the field. In his effort to rein- 
force the Northern army Washington had sent a portion of his 
own forces, and could only muster about eleven thousand men 
with whom to oppose the enemy in their march upon Phila- 
delphia. The two armies approached each other on the third of 
September, and the British troops advancing, sought to turn 
the right of the American army. To secure a better position, 
Washington fell back across the Brandywine Eiver and posted 
his troops on the hill near Chadd's Ford, while General Max- 
well, with his light corps, took possession of the hills south of 
the river, to hold the enemy in check if they should approach 
in that direction. The other fords of the river were guarded 
against the attempted crossing of the enemy. 

On the morning of the eleventh the British advanced, and one 
column marched to Chadd's Ford and forced Maxwell's corps to 
cross the river, while the other column, under Cornwallis, moved 
up on the west side of the Brandywine, and falling upon the 
main army of the Americans, drove them back with a loss of 
about nine hundred men. The Americans made a creditable 
resistance, and retreated at night to Chester and on the next 
day to Philadelphia. Washington took immediate steps to rein- 
force his army for a vigorous defense of Philadelphia. Fifteen 
hundred men were marched from Peekskill and large detach- 
ments of militia ordered into the field, and Washington again 
marched upon the enemy and met them about twenty-three 
miles from Philadelphia, but just as he opened the engagement 
a terrific storm arose, and such a torrent of rain fell that the 
ammunition of the Americans was ruined, and they were forced 
to retreat to Warwick's Furnace to refit their muskets and re- 
plenish their cartridge boxes. The British then moved rapidly 
toward Reading, with the intention of capturing Washington's 
military stores. To save these the Americans took a new po- 
sition, and leaving Philadelphia unprotected, the British tri- 
umphantly entered that city on the twenty-sixth of the month. 



36 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



The object of the British was to effect an open communica tion 
through the Delaware with their fleet, but Washington for a 
while prevented this by erecting forts on both sides of the Dela- 
ware and by obstructing the channel below the city. To destroy 
these works, a considerable force of British troops were sent, 
which gave Washington a favorable opportunity to attack the 
main body of the enemy. This attack was well planned, and at 
first the Americans were successful, and routed the enemy in 
two different quarters and took a number of prisoners, but a 
heavy fog prevented Washington from understanding his own 
situation or that of the enemy, and he hastily abandoned the 
field and resigned a victory which he had thought secure. 
About this time news was received of the surrender of General 
Burgoyne and his entire division of the British army as prisoners 
of war. This not only greatly raised the hopes of the Ameri- 
cans, but enabled a portion of the Northern army to join Wash- 
ington, who then took position at or near White Marsh. Sir 
William Howe moved out to dislodge him, but finding the 
Americans in too strong a position, he fell back to Philadelphia, 
and soon after Washington retired into winter quarters at Valley 
Forge, where the pitiful, destitute army of patriot heroes suf- 
fered cold and hunger and every deprivation while trying to 
maintain their very existence until spring. To add still more 
to Washington's trials, great dissatisfaction was raised through- 
out the country at what was claimed as his mismanagement, 
and there was a clamor to supplant him in office and raise Gen- 
eral Gates to the chief command, on account of his successful 
capture of Burgoyne's army. But the counsel and judgment of 
wiser heads pre vailed, and the only man on American soil who 
could have carried our armies through to victory was left in 
chief command. 

Soon after this the cheering news was received that France 
had dispatched a fleet and army to our aid. This had a corre- 
spondingly depressing effect upon the British, and Sir William 
Howe having resigned his command, Sir Henry Clinton, his 
successor, received immediate orders to evacuate Philadelphia. 
The British general, deciding on a march to New York, crossed 
the Delaware about the middle of June and Washington put 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



37 



his troops in motion to harass his rear, and. even bring him to 
a general engagement if a favorable opportunity was presented. 
Having sent a detachment of troops to the front, under com- 
mand of General Lee, to make an attack to be supported by the 
main army, Washington came up with the reserve to find Lee 
in full retreat without having struck a blow. This lost the ad- 
vantages which were so inviting to the Americans. The troops 
could not be formed in position for attack that night, and by 
the next morning the British were nowhere to be seen, having 
moved away in great silence during the night, sustaining a loss, 
including prisoners, of about three hundred and fifty men. 

Soon after the battle of Monmouth the American army took 
post at White Plains, and remained there and in the vicinity 
till autumn was far advanced, and then retired to Middlebrook, 
in New Jersey. During this period only occasional skirmishes 
occurred. The French fleet arrived too late to attack the British 
in the Delaware, and undertook to engage the King's fleet off 
the coast of Ehode Island, but a storm so injured both fleets that 
the French sailed to Boston and the British to New York to refit. 
* With the battle of Monmouth active operations closed in the 
Middle States, and the American army went into winter quar- 
ters in the Highlands. At the close of 1778, except the posses- 
sion of New York by the British, the local situation did not 
materially differ from that of the commencement of the cam- 
paign of 1776. For a time the alliance with France led the 
people to believe that our independence would be achieved with 
scarcely any further effort on our part. It required much labor 
on the part of Washington to dispel this dangerous delusion, 
and it was not until late in January that he prevailed on Con- 
gress to pass resolutions for re-enlisting the army. It was also 
with the greatest difficulty that Washington could prevent a 
large portion of the army from throwing down their arms be- 
cause the depreciated Continental currency they received as 
pay was not sufficient to keep their wives and children from the 
point of starvation. The American army in these years was 
destitute not only of food, but of clothing, and it seems as if 
Washington possessed supernatural influence to calm all the 
disturbing elements and hold the army together. 



38 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



The effective force of Sir Henry Clinton in 1779, strongly for- 
tified in New York and Rhode Island, amounted to about six- 
teen thousand men, while that of the Americans did not exceed 
thirteen thousaDd. West Point was the chief post of the Ameri- 
cans, and to entice them from this stronghold the British began 
a wholesale system of plundering the Connecticut coast and 
burning villages and farm-houses. 

While the British devastations were going on, Washington 
planned an expedition against Stony Point, a bold hill on the 
Hudson, on which the British had built a fort garrisoned by 
about six hundred men. The attack was made by General 
Wayne, resulting in the capture of the fort and its defenses. 
This was soon followed by the surprise of the British garrison 
at Paulus Hook, conducted by Major Henry Lee, who, with 
three hundred soldiers, entered the fort and carried away one 
hundred and fifty-nine prisoners. 

At this time the Americans were awaiting the expected aid 
from France, and thought best not to hazard any decisive move- 
ments, and after a reduction of the Indians, by an expedition 
under command of General Sullivan, the army went into winter 
quarters at Morristown, where they again suffered terribly dur- 
ing the long months. But notwithstanding the situation of Ins 
army, Washington, ever ready to see his advantage, planned an 
expedition against the British works on Staten Island, and a 
detachment of twenty-five hundred men, under command of 
Lord Stirling, crossed the ice at Elizabethtown, but the British 
had learned of the expedition and withdrawn to their fortifica- 
tions, and the results of the expedition consisted in a quantity 
of blankets and military stores captured from the enemy. 

Soon after this event Washington received intelligence of the 
loss of Charleston and the surrender of General Lincoln's army, 
which jjroved so depressing to the Americans that some of the 
troops actually announced their intention of returning home. 

In July, 1 780, the expected allies arrived on the coast of Rhode 
Island. Their fleet consisted of twelve large vessels, five smaller 
ones, and an army of six thousand men. Washington, soon 
after their arrival, sent jxroposals to the French commander for 
commencing the siege of New York. This design was suspended 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



39 



by the return of Sir Henry Clinton to New York with about 
eight thousand men, and the arrival soon after of Admiral 
Eodney with eleven British war vessels upon the American 
coast. 

At this period Benedict Arnold attempted the acts which will 
forever make his name infamous in human history. Bemg in- 




washington's headquarters at newburgh. 

trusted with the command of West Point, partly from motives 
of avarice, and partly from feelings of revenge for some public 
censures he had received from the Government, he determined 
to deliver this post into the hands of the enemy. His attempt 
and the results are well known, and belong to general history 
rather than to the biography of Washington. When the Com- 
mander-in-Chief arrived at West Point, and learned of the 



40 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



treachery and night of Arnold, he said : ' ' I thought that an 
officer of courage and ability, who had often shed his blood for 
his country, was entitled to confidence, and I gave him mine. 
I am convinced now, and for the rest of my life, that we should 
never trust those who are wanting in probity, whatever abilities 
they may possess." 

The campaign of this year ended with no very decided effects, 
and the army went into winter quarters. But the year 1781 
opened with a serious mutiny among the troops at Morristown, 
and all but three regiments paraded under arms without their 
officers, supplied themselves with provisions, and seizing six 
pieces of artillery, expressed their determination to march to 
Philadelphia and demand of Congress the justice that had so 
long been denied them. This insurrection resulted in securing 
the relief sought, but Washington severely dealt with the next 
mutiny. 

In March, M. de Grasse having sailed from France with a 
fleet, arrived in the Chesapeake on the thirteenth of August, 
where he was soon joined by the French fleet from Rhode Island 
to co-operate with Washington and Count Rochambeau on the 
land. Washington's plan was to lay siege to the post of Lord 
Cornwallis at Yorktown. This plan of operation was so well 
digested and admirably executed that Washington and Count 
Rochambeau had passed the British headquarters at New York 
and were considerably advanced on their way to Yorktown be- 
fore the British were aware of his intentions. Meeting M. de 
Grasse on board his fleet, the plan of operation was agreed 
upon, and the combined forces then proceeded on their way to 
Yorktown, where Washington began at once to encircle the 
post, while the French fleet co-operated in the harbor. The 
next morning Cornwallis found himself surrounded by the bat- 
teries of the Americans and the French fleet in the harbor, and 
realized that he could not escape. Hastily he made every effort 
to strengthen his position and prepare to defend himself against 
the terrific bombardment which was opened upon him. Day 
after day the fearful rain of death fell on his army with no hope 
of relief. Redoubt after redoubt was being carried by the Amer- 
icans and French, and death and capture were approaching 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



41 



nearer to the doomed British. Seeing that further conflict was 
hopeless, Cornwallis yielded to the inevitable, and on the 19th 
of October, 1778, surrendered, and seven thousand British vet- 
erans laid down their arms and became prisoners of war, and 
their entire cannon and military stores fell into the hands of the 
victorious Americans. 

After the surrender, Washington proved his finer sentiments 
and delicacy of feeling by issuing the following request to his 
victorious soldiers : 

" My brave fellows, let no sensation of satisfaction for the triumph you 
have gained induce you to insult your fallen enemy. Let no shouting, no 
clamorous huzzaing increase their mortification. It is sufficient that we wit- 
ness their humiliation. Posterity will huzza for us." 

This great victory revived the hopes of the country, and 
greatly discouraged the British at the wonderful energy and 
endurance of the Americans. Congress marched in a body 
to church and returned thanks to Heaven for the great 
victory. 

After the capture of Cornwallis, Washington, with the greater 
part of his army, returned to the vicinity of New York, and 
turned his attention to the plan of dislodging the British from 
their strong hold upon that important city. But while he was 
arranging to co-operate with the French for this purpose, news 
arrived that the discontinuance of the war had been moved and 
debated in the British Parliament. The expected approach of 
peace relaxed the efforts of the States, and it was impossible to 
procure funds for the pay and subsistence of the troops, and 
Washington was in great fear of the result of reducing the 
army and turning into the world the men soured by penury and 
what they called the ingratitude of the public. These appre- 
hensions were well founded, and when the army went into 
winter quarters, Washington remained in camp to watch and 
control the soldiers, though there was no probability of any 
military operations to require his presence. 

Nothing had been decided by Congress in respect to the claims 
of the soldiers, when news arrived in March, 1783, that Great 
Britain had acknowledged the independence of the United 



42 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



States. This intelligence spread the wildest joy throughout the 
entire country. Thus ended the war, eight years after our land 
had been consecrated to freedom by the sacred blood of patriots 
shed at Lexington, and now, after the most terrible suffering 
and deprivation, and loss of life and desolation of homes, the 
country was free. But the joy of the army was clouded by 
gloomy anticipations of the injustice of their country, and to 
force Congress to a settlement of their accounts, a meeting of 
the officers was called by anonymous circulars, and every indi- 
cation was given that a storm was imminent that would destroy 
the peace of the country. To prevent the results which would 
probably occur from this inflamed assemblage, Washington 
called a meeting of the officers and made a most touching ap- 
peal to them, which resulted in calming the trouble. The result 
of this meeting was communicated by Washington to Congress, 
accompanied by an impressive letter, which had the result of se- 
curing from Congress satisfactory resolutions in reference to 
the pay of officers and soldiers. 

In April the Commander-in-Chief issued to the army his order 
proclaiming the cessation of hostilities, after wiiich he devoted 
his time until November in reducing the army, which was a 
difficult measure, requiring deliberation. On the second of No- 
vember, 1783, General Washington issued his farewell orders to 
the armies of the United States. In bidding them an affection- 
ate farewell, his closing words were : 4 ' Your general being now 
to conclude these his last public orders, to take his ultimate 
leave in a short time of the military character, and to bid adieu 
to the armies he has so long had the honor to command, he can 
only again offer in their behalf his recommendations to their 
grateful country and his prayers to the God of armies. May 
ample justice be done to them here, and may the choicest of 
Heaven's favors, both here and hereafter, attend those who, 
under the Divine auspices, have secured innumerable blessings 
for others. With these wishes and this benediction the Com- 
mander-in-Chief is about to retire from service. The curtain of 
separation will soon be drawn, and the military scene to him 
will be closed forever." 

In November the British army evacuated New York, and the 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



43 



American army under General Knox took possession, and soon 
after General Washington made his public entry into the city 
amid great festivities and a grand triumphal ovation. 

Here he remained until the fourth of December, when he took 
an affectionate farewell of his officers, who had fought with 
him the battles and shared with him the hardships of war. 
When Washington entered the room where they were assembled 
his emotions were too strong to be repressed or concealed. Fill- 
ing a glass, he turned to the surrounding officers and said : 
"With a heart full of love and gratitude I now take leave of 
you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as 
prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious 
and honorable. I cannot come to each of you to take my leave, 
but shall be obliged if each of you will come and take me by 
the hand." 

One by one, in silence and in tears, his old comrades grasped him 
by the hand, and then, with a look of deep emotion and inexpress- 
ible tenderness on his face, Washington passed from the room 
and began his journey toward his home and waiting family at 
Mount Vernon. Everywhere the ovations of the people awaited 
him. Eeaching Annapolis, then the seat of Government, he 
proceeded at once to resign his commission as Commander-in- 
Chief, and in an appropriate address he expressed his great hap- 
piness at the confirmation of our independence, and commended 
the interests of our country to the protection of God, closing 
with the expression of his desire to take leave of all employ- 
ments of public life. 

Having thus, of his own accord, become one of the people, 
the American chief hastened to his delightf ul residence at Mount 
Vernon, where he devoted his attention, with untiring industry, 
to the pursuits of agriculture and the extension of inland navi- 
gation. 

A crisis now seemed approaching in our problem of self-gov- 
ernment which required a very superior statesmanship to avert. 
Many complications and evidences of weakness were growing 
out of the Confederation, and nothing short of a union of the 
States, with certain rights delegated to the general Government, 
appeared adequate to the demands of the national situation. 



44 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS, 



Washington was deeply interested in this necessary change in 
the relationship. 

In accordance with the general opinion that a better form of 
government was necessary, a convention of delegates from the 
several States was proposed. This convention met in Phila- 
delphia in May, and unanimously chose George Washington 
their President. The result of this Convention was the Consti- 
tution under which our present form of government was pro- 
posed. This Constitution being accepted by eleven of the States, 
all eyes were turned toward Washington as the most worthy 
and suitable person to be President of the United States. 

The official announcement of his election to the Presidency 
was made to General Washington on the fourteenth of April, 
1789, and two days after receiving this notification he left 
Mount Vernon for New York, which was then the seat of 
Government. Everywhere on the route throngs gathered to 
gaze on the face of the hero of the Eevolution. Military escorts 
attended him from State to State, and his reception at New 
York was celebrated by a grand procession and illumination, 
and on the 30th of April, 1789, he took the oath of office and was 
inaugurated President of the United States, in which position 
he remained for eight years, having been re-elected for a second 
term. 

When he began his administration the situation of the United 
States was highly critical. There were no funds in the Treasury, 
and large debts were due on every side. Opposition to the new 
Constitution was strong, and our relationship with foreign 
powers was very unsettled. Difficulties occurred with Spain, 
and the Indian nations were at war with the United States in 
several localities. To guide the ship of state over and through 
these difficulties required the greatest skill and statesmanship 
on the part of Washington, but with a master hand he steered 
us safely through the most critical period of our national exist- 
ence. Among his first measures was the effort to make peace 
with the Indians. Through his skillful and prudent manage- 
ment, also, the difficulty with Spain was amicably adjusted. 
His great firmness and wisdom in compelling a strict neutrality 
in the war between France and Great Britain deserved the deep- 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



45 



est gratitude of the entire country. Some complications arose 
between the United States and France just previous to the ex- 
piration of his second term of office, but before the difficulty 
was adjusted he had ceased to be President, and had retired to 
his beautiful and cherished home. 

His farewell address was one of the ablest State papers ever 
issued, and was received in every part of the Union with the 
most unbounded admiration. His journey home was a per- 
fect ovation, and wherever he passed, crowds came to meet him 
and pay their respects to him. In the retirement of his beauti- 
ful Mount Vernon he resumed his agricultural pursuits, and in 
the society of his friends and many guests he sought a quiet 
ending to an active and anxious life. But his country turned 
to him in trouble like the needle to the pole, and when the im- 
pending difficulty with France obliged our Government to adopt 
vigorous measures, Congress authorized the formation of a reg- 
ular army, and President Adams nominated Washington to the 
chief command of the armies of the United States, with the 
rank of lieutenant general. After this appointment, "Washing- 
ton divided his time between agricultural pursuits and the or- 
ganization of the army. Soon after this the Directory was 
overthrown and the French Government passed into the hands 
of Napoleon, who soon arranged a peaceful settlement with the 
United States. 

In all of Washington's duties, precision and punctuality 
marked the performance. Having a certain hour for dining, 
he always sat down to the table at the time, allowing five min- 
utes for lateness of guests. Whenever he made an appointment 
to meet any one at a certain hour, the clock was not more punc- 
tual than he. As an illustration of this, when he visited Boston 
in 1789 he appointed eight o'clock in the morning as the hour 
when he should set out for Salem, and while the Old South 
clock was striking eight he was crossing his saddle. The com- 
pany of cavalry which volunteered to escort him, not anticipat- 
ing this strict punctuality, were parading in Tremont street 
after his departure, and it was not until the President had 
reached Charles River Bridge, where he stopped a few moments, 
that the troops overtook him. On passing the corps the Presi- 



46 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



dent, with perfect good nature, said: "Major, I thought you 
had been too long in my family not to know when it was eight 
o'clock." 

But the time drew nigh when a great bereavement was to fall 
upon the country. Though Washington's services to his coun- 
try and his fame will live forever, he himself was but mortal. 
On the 12th of December, 1799, he rode out as usual on his visits 
to his farms. The weather, becoming soon after very cold, there 
was an alternate fall of rain, hail and snow. On returning 
home he dined without changing his dress, and in the evening 
retired apparently as well as usual. He arose the next morning 
with a cold from his exposure of the previous day, and com- 
plained of a sore throat. His hoarseness increased toward even- 
ing, but he took no remedy for it, saying that he would never 
take anything to cany off a cold, and that it could go as it came. 
On Saturday morning he was very seriously unwell, and a phy- 
sician was sent for to bleed him. Finding that no relief was 
obtained from bleeding, and that he was entirely unab]e to 
swallow anything, his attendants bathed his throat externally 
with sal volatile. A piece of flannel was then put round his 
neck and his feet were soaked in warm water. It was impossi- 
ble to procure any relief. Several physicians were immediately 
sent for, and various remedies resorted to without effect. Be- 
tween five and six o'clock in the afternoon his physicians came 
to his bedside, and Dr. Craik asked him if he would sit up in 
bed. He held out his hand and was raised up, when he said : 
' ' I feel myself going ; you had better not take anymore trouble 
about me, but let me go off quietly; I cannot last long." He 
then laid down again and all except Dr. Craik retired. ■ Wash- 
ington then said to him: "Doctor, I die hard, but I am not 
afraid to go. I believed from my first attack I should not sur- 
vive it ; my breath cannot last long." 

About ten o'clock he made several attempts to speak before 
he could effect it. He at length said : " I am just going. Have 
me decently buried, and do not let my body be put in the vault 
in less than two days after I am dead." His attending physi- 
cian bowed assent. He looked at him again and said : 44 Do 
you understand me?" The reply was : " Yes, sir." Washing- 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



4? 



ton answered "'Tis well." About ten minutes before he ex- 
pired his breathing became much easier ; he lay quietly, and 
withdrew his hand from the physician to feel his own pulse. 
His hand fell from the wrist. Dr. Craik placed his hands over 
his eyes, and he expired without a struggle or a sigh, at the age 
of sixty-eight years. During his last moments Mrs. Washington 
sat in silent and agonizing suspense by his bed , and when he 
breathed his last she asked in a quiet voice : " Is he gone?" and 




OLD FAMILY VAULT. 

bowing her head she realized that her noble companion had 
passed into that land to which she soon would follow. 

Information of the death of Washington was received in 
every part of the States, and in fact throughout the world, with 
deep regret and veneration for his memory. Throughout our 
country funeral processions were formed and solemn services 
performed, and on the 18th of December his remains were placed 
in the family vault at Mount Vernon, where they have moul- 
dered in dust, while his soul and his immortal works live on 
and his fame is growing brighter throughout all lands. 



JOHN ADAMS. 



John Adams was born at Quincy, in Massachusetts, on the 
30th day of October, 1735. He was the son of John and Susan- 
nah Boylston Adams, and the fourth in descent from Henry 
Adams, who, to quote the inscription on his tombstone, "took 
his flight from the dragon persecution in 1 Devonshire, England, 
and alighted, with eight sons, near Wollaston." John Adams 
early gave proof of superior abilities, and enjoyed the best ad- 
vantages for their cultivation that the country afforded. He 
entered Harvard College in 1751, from which he graduated 
four years afterward, and following the example of most of the 
distinguished men in New England from the earliest times, he 
engaged for a time in teaching as instructor in the grammar 
school in Worcester, and at the same time studied law with Mr. 
Putnam, a lawyer of considerable eminence in that town, and 
being admitted to the bar in 1758, he commenced the practice of 
law in Braintree, his native town, and at an early day proved 
his extraordinary ability. In 1759 he was admitted to the bar 
of Suffolk, through the influence of Jeremy Gridley, the At- 
torney-General of the province, who was a warm friend and 
patron of young Adams, and in compliance with his advice Mr. 
Adams applied himself earnestly to the study of the civil law, 
which was not much known to lawyers at that time. In 1761 
he was admitted to the degree of barrister of law, and about the 
same time, by the death of his father, he succeeded to a small 
landed estate. 

In the same year certain memorable events transpired in the 
relationship of the colonies to England, which aroused in Mr. 
Adams the most enthusiastic patriotism. For some years past 
the feeling between the colonies, and especially Massachusetts, 
and the mother country, had not been one of good will and mu- 



50 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



tual confidence. The rapidly increasing wealth and population 
of the colonies were viewed with a jealous eye by Parliament, 
which began to interfere with their internal and external rela- 
tions in a manner that stirred up the old Puritan spirit of resist- 
ance. Being without representation in Parliament, they denied 
its right to violate their charters or to impose restraints on the 
employment of their industry and capital, and in 1761 the first 
spirit of resistance was manifested. 

An order of council had been passed in Great Britain, order- 
ing the officers of the customs in Massachusetts Bay to execute 
the acts of trade. The Custom House officers, in order that 
they might fully perform this duty, petitioned the Supreme 
Court to grant k( writs of assistance," which authorized those 
who held them to enter houses in search of goods liable to duty. 
This aroused great opposition, and the colonists denied the right 
to grant them. The legality of the act was made the subject of 
a trial, and Mr. Gridley, the King's Attorney-General, argued 
for the Crown in its support, while the able and patriotic James 
Otis defended the rights of the people. His speech was one of 
the most eloquent arguments ever heard in this country up to 
that time. Mr. Adams, in his enthusiasm for its sentiments, 
wrote as follows : " Otis was a flame of fire. With a prompti- 
tude of classical allusion, a depth of research, a rapid summary 
of historical events and dates, a profusion of legal authorities, 
a prophetic glance of his eyes into futurity, a rapid torrent of 
impetuous eloquence, he hurried away all before him. Ameri- 
can Independence was then and there born ; every man of an 
immensely crowded audience appeared to go away ready to 
take up arms against writs of assistance." Such were the over- 
whelming arguments of Mr. Otis that the courts decided against 
the legality of the writs. 

In 1764 Mr. Adams married Abigail, daughter of the Rev. 
William Smith, of Weymouth, and few men have been so for- 
tunate in their choice or so happy in their domestic relations. 
Mrs. Adams was a woman of great personal beauty and strength 
of character, with a highly cultivated mind and the most en- 
gaging sweetness of disposition. She sympathized with her 
husband in his patriotic enthusiasm, cheered and sustained him 



JOHN ADAMS. 



51 



in his hours of trial, and submitted without repining to the long 
separations which his duty to the public rendered necessary. 

The British Ministry now began their oppression of the col- 
onists, and, with what seems a Providential infatuation, passed 
the memorable Stamp Act. This at once aroused the indigna- 
tion of the people, and a flame of opposition blazed out imme- 
diately throughout the whole country, Patrick Henry, of Vir- 
ginia, Mr. Adams and Mr. Otis took the lead in this opposition, 
and the latter two gentlemen, together with Mr. Gridley, argued 




CONTINENTAL CURRENCY. 



that the courts should administer justice without stamped paper. 
This opposition soon brought about the repeal of the obnoxious 
act. 

Mr. Adams then gave to the world his ' ' Dissertation on the 
Crown and Feudal Law." The object of this work was to show 
the absurdity and tyranny of the monarchical and aristocratic 
institutions of the old world, and in particular the mischievous 
principles of the canon and feudal law. He contended that the 
New England settlers had been induced to cross the ocean to 
escape the tyranny of Church and State, and that they had laid 
the foundations of their government in reason, justice and a 



52 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



respect for the rights of humanity. He exhorted his countrymen 
not to fall short of these noble sentiments of their fathers, and 
to sacrifice anything rather than liberty and honor. "The 
whole tone of the essay is so raised and bold," says Mr. Wirt, 
"that it sounds like a trumpet-call to arms." It was much 
read and admired in America and Europe, and was pronounced 
by Mr. Hollis, of London, to be the best American work which 
had crossed the Atlantic, 

In 1766 Mr. Adams removed his residence to Boston, which 
was a large field for his able legal talent, but he still continued 
Lis attendance on the neighboring circuits. 

The repeal of the Stamp Act was followed the next year by a 
law passed by Parliament, laying duties in the British colonies 
on glass, paper, painters' colors and tea. To enforce these laws 
and suppress the rising spirit of independence, two regiments of 
soldiers and some armed vessels were sent to Boston, that town 
having incurred the displeasure of England by its opposition to 
British imposition on the colonies. The citizens were indignant 
at this quartering of troops in their midst, and squabbles were 
perpetually taking place between them, and on the 5th of March, 
1770, a bloody affray occurred in State street, in which five citi- 
zens were killed and many wounded. This is commonly called 
the Boston massacre, and it so exasperated the people that it 
was with difficulty on the part of the leading men that they 
were pre vented from rising en masse and putting to death every 
British soldier. Captain Preston and six soldiers engaged in 
the massacre were arrested and tried for murder. John Adams 
and Josiah Quincy were asked to become their counsel. The 
position was a critical one for these stanch patriots, but with 
great moral courage they undertook the defense. This sub- 
jected them to the bitter accusation of having deserted the 
cause of their country and become the bribed defenders of Brit- 
ish despotism. But notwithstanding this clamor, the result of 
the trial was in the highest degree honorable to the community. 
Tried before a jury chosen from the exasperated inhabitants of 
the town, Captain Preston and four of the soldiers were ac- 
quitted, while two were found guilty of manslaughter and re- 
ceived slight punishments, the citizens wisely seeing that the 



JOHN ADAMS. 



53 



blame should rest on the British Government, and not upon the 
soldiers who defended themselves against attack. 

To prove that Mr. Adams still maintained the respect and con- 
fidence of his fellow-citizens, he was chosen in the same year as 
one of the representatives in the General Assembly, being then 
a resident of Boston, and in this position he became a formidable 
opponent of Governor Hutchinson, who labored assiduously for 
the interests of the Crown. 

The opposition of the colonies had resulted in a repeal of the 
duties on all articles except tea, and to prove their antagonism 
to the tax, associations were formed in all the colonies to dis- 
courage the use of tea. Great Britain, to force the tea down 
the throats of the colonists, sent large shipments to Boston. 
The consignees endeavored to send it back, but the Custom 
House officers refused a clearance. This brought the difficulty 
to a focus, and on the 15th of December a band of seventy or 
eighty men, disguised as Indians, boarded the vessels in the har- 
bor and emptied the chests of tea into the bay. 

A consideration of the circumstances of the times exalts this 
seeming frolic into an act of the most sublime daring. It was 
throwing down the gauntlet of defiance, and was a bold act of 
rebellion that rendered an appeal to arms inevitable. To punish 
Boston, the English Government sent armed ships to close their 
port against commerce . This was a crushing blow at the pros- 
perity of the town, and aroused the sympathy of the entire 
country for Massachusetts, and a movement was set on foot to 
refuse all importations from England. The determination of 
the people to resist oppression was daily gaining strength, and 
in furtherance of this purpose a General Congress was con- 
vened in Philadelphia in 1774. To this Congress Massachusetts 
sent James Bowdoin, Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams, John 
Adams and Robert Treat Paine. 

After the election of Mr. Adams as a delegate, his friend Mr. 
Sewall, the King's Attorney-General, labored earnestly to dis- 
suade him from accepting the appointment. He told Mr. Adams 
that Great Britain was determined on her system ; her power 
was irresistible, and would be destructive to him and all these 
who should persevere in opposition to her designs. Mr. Adams 



54 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



replied to him : ''I know that Great Britain has determined on 
her system, and that very determination determines me on 
mine. You know I have been constant and uniform in opposi- 
tion to her measures. The die is now cast. I have passed the 
Rubicon. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish with my 
country is my unalterable determination." 

The Congress opened its session in Philadelphia on the 5th of 
September, 1774. Its proceedings are too well known to need 
minute description. They form one of the noblest chapters in 
the history, not only of our country, but of the world, and they 
have left to every American citizen a heritage of glory before 
which all the fabled splendor which tradition has thrown around 
the origin of older nations fades into insignificance. 

Mr. Adams and his colleagues being inhabitants of the colony 
which had been most oppressed and insulted, and in which the 
most determined spirit of opposition had been roused, were con- 
vinced of the entire impracticability of any reconciliation, and 
that it would be necessary to throw off the allegiance of the 
mother country and to act as an independent nation. But most 
of the delegates were entirely opposed to any attempt at separa- 
tion, and firmly expressed themselves as only favoring a redress 
of their grievances. Mr. Adams consequently became unpopu- 
lar, and was even given to understand that his views were as 
unpopular as the grievances. He was looked upon as a vision- 
ary advocate of a very dangerous theory, and, while they all 
wanted to be rid of England's oppression, many were afraid to 
be without the protection of the powerful British Government. 
The following extract from one of Adams' own letters shows the 
views of himself and some of his distinguished colleagues : 

" When Congress had finished their business, as they thought, in the au- 
tumn of 1774, 1 had with Mr. Henry, before we took leave of each other, some 
familiar conversation, in which I expressed a full conviction that our re- 
solves, declarations of rights, enumeration of wrongs, petitions, remon- 
strances, and addresses, associations and non-importation agreements, how- 
ever they might be expected in America, and however necessary to cement 
the union of the colonies, would be but waste water in England. Mr. Henry 
said they might make some impression among the people of England, but 
agreed with me that they would be totally lost upon the Government. I had 
but just received a short and hasty letter, written to me by Major Joseph 



JOHN ADAMS. 



55 



Hawley, of Northampton, containing a k few broken hints,' as he called them, 
of what he thought was proper to be done, and concluding with these words: 
1 After all, we must fight.'' This letter I read to Mr. Henry, who listened with 
great attention, and as soon as I had pronounced the words, ' After all, we 
must fight,' he raised his head, and with an energy and vehemence that I can 

never forget, broke out with, ' By G , I am of that man's mind !' I put the 

letter in his hand, and when he had read it he returned it to me with an 
equally solemn asseveration that he agreed entirely in opinion with the writer. 
It is probable that Mr. Henry and "Washington were the only ones of the Vir- 
ginia delegation who did not return home firm in the opinion that all our 
grievances would be redressed. The majority of our people were strongly 
attached to the mother country and believed that the feeling was mutual, 
and that the kindred ties of blood and sympathy would secure for us both 
justice and generosity. But these fond and baseless hopes were not to be 
realized. The British Ministry were haughty, arrogant and bigoted, and with 
a lack of prudence, forethought and statesmanship, resolved to waste no 
kindness or forbearance on us, but to bring us to terms by force." 

At the adjournment of Congress in November, Mr. Adams re- 
turned to his home, where he felt it his duty to the country to 
answer some able essays which had been written by his friend 
Mr. Sewall, the Attorney -General, under the name of "Massa- 
chusetts," advocating the supreme authority of Parliament and 
denouncing the revolutionary spirit of the country. Mr. Adams, 
in answer to these essays, wrote a series of communications to 
the press, over the signature of c< No vanglus," defending the 
action of our people. These papers were most ably written, and 
were remarkable as an evidence of the extent of the author's 
general reading and his acquaintance with colonial history. 

One advantage of these papers was that they set the people 
thinking, and matured in their minds those ideas which were 
so soon destined to blossom forth into patriotic devotion to their 
country's cause. 

Mr. Adams and his colleagues were re-elected members of the 
Continental Congress, John Hancock being chosen in the place 
of Mr. Bowdoin. It assembled in Philadelphia on the 20th of 
May, 1775, just about one month after the first blood of the 
Revolution had been shed at Lexington and Concord, and the 
delegates were obliged to take measures for active resistance. 
Although the blood of Americans had crimsoned our soil and 
consecrated our cause in the sight of Heaven, the people were 



56 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



not ripe for independence, and took up arras in self-defense 
only, believing that their grievances would be redressed. In 
selecting the Commander-in-Chief of our forces to be brought 
into the field, Mr. Adams deserves the greatest credit for his 
sound judgment, disinterested patriotism and sacrifice of sec- 
tional prejudice to the common good. The New England 
militia, then under command of General Artemas Ward, was 
the only thing in the shape of a provincial army organized at 
that time. This general the New England delegation were 
anxious to have appointed Commander-in-Chief, but Mr. Adams, 
being familiar with the uncommon military ability displayed 
by Colonel George Washington, of Virginia, in the French war, 
urged earnestly his ap}3 ointment. Mr. Adams found his col- 
leagues entirely unwilhng to appoint this stranger from a dis- 
tant locality over their officers of higher rank, even if of more 
experience than they possessed. Mr. Adams, however, was 
persistent, and worked so assiduously that Washington was 
nominated the next day by Governor Johnson, of Maryland, at 
the instigation of Mr. Adams, who seconded the motion himself, 
to the great surprise of many members, and none more so than 
Washington himself, who, with his characteristic modesty, im- 
mediately arose and left the house. To the wisdom and sagacity 
of Mr. Adams in making such a desirable, if not even necessary, 
selection, and for his persistent energy in working for the ap- 
pointment, the greatest credit is due. In the clear light of im- 
partial reasoning to-day, it is doubtful if any other living man 
in the country at that time but Washington could have carried 
our armies to victory. 

About the time of Washington's appointment Thomas Jeffer- 
son took his seat in Congress from Virginia, in place of Mr. 
Peyton Randolph, who had retired on account of ill health. 
There at once sprang up a warm intimacy between him and Mr. 
Adams, arising from congeniality of feeling and co-operation 
in their views on the great subjects which then agitated the 
minds of men. 

Between this time and the assembling of Congress in the 
spring of 1776 ? the difficulty bet ween England and America had, 
by a series of stirring events, culminated in an irreparable 



JOHN ADAMS. 



57 



breach. Bunker Hill had flowed with patriotic blood, Wash- 
ington's fortifications on Dorchester Heights had forced the 
British to evacuate Boston, and Parliament had declared the 
provinces in a state of rebellion, and it was voted to raise and 
equip a force of twenty-eight thousand seamen and fifty-five 
thousand land troops. To the great indignation of the Ameri- 
can people, it was then learned that Lord North had hired six- 
teen thousand Hessian mercenaries to assist in subduing the 
colonies. 

All hopes of a 
peaceable adjust- 
ment of the diffi- 
culty were now at 
an end, and nothing 
remained but for 
the people to rush 
to arms in defense 
of their country, 
their homes and 
everything they 
held dear. The 
hour had arrived 
for writing the sub- 
limest page in 
human history — a 
page which only 
heroes could indite. 
Mr. Adams had from the first held to the opinion that the breach 
between the two countries could not be amicably closed, and 
that the sword would be the only arbitrator. Such opinions it 
was now no longer dangerous or inexpedient to express, and 
accordingly, on the 6th of May, 1776, Mr. Adams moved in Con- 
gress a resolution which was, in fact, a declaration of independ- 
ence, recommending to the colonies such a government as 
would, in the opinion of the representatives of the people, best 
conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents and of 
America. 

This resolution was adopted on the 10th of May, and on the 




5o 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



same day the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted a 
resolution that they stood ready to pledge their lives and for- 
tunes to the support of a declaration of independence by Con- 
gress. This spirit of independence growing day by day, Mr. 
Adams, on the 15th of the month, presented a preamble to the 
resolutions previously passed. This preamble, after setting 
forth the oppressive acts of the British Government and the in- 
famous spirit exhibited in hiring foreign mercenary soldiers to 
.assist them, proceeded in the following decided language : 

''Whereas it appears absolutely irreconcilable to reason and good con- 
science for the people of these colonies now to take the oath and affirmations 
necessary for the support of any government under the Crown of Great Brit- 
ain, a::d it is necessary that the exercise of every kind of authority under the 
said Crown should be totally suppressed, and all the powers of government 
exerted under the authority of the people of the colonies for the preservation 
of internal peace, virtue and good order, as well, as f-.r the defense of their 
lives, liberties and properties against the hostile invasions and cruel depreda- 
tions of their enemies. " 

After the adoption of this preamble, it was published and pre- 
sented to the colonies for an expression of their separate opinions. 
Universally they expressed in reply a wish for independence, 
North Carolina having the first place on the roll of honor in send- 
ing her indorsement first. 

The time had now arrived for drawing up a formal Declara- 
tion of Independence, and on the 7th of June, in honor of Vir- 
ginia, Richard Henry Lee was chosen to offer the immortal 
resolution : ' ' That these United Colonies are and of right 
ought to be free and independent States ; that they are absolved 
from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political 
connection between them and the Government of Great Britain 
is and of right ought to be totally dissolved." 

Mr. Adams seconded this motion, and it was under discussion 
until the first of July. A committee was appointed at the same 
time to prepare a draft of a c'eclaratijn for the consideration of 
Congress. This committee, which was chosen by ballot, con- 
sisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, 
Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston, the names taking 
precedence according the number of votes each had received. 
Following this precedence, Jefferson and Adams were selected 



JOHN ADAMS, 



59 



by the other members to prepare the draft, and Mr. Jefferson, 
at the earnest request of Mr. Adams, wrote the immortal paper, 
and on the first day of July it was reported to Congress for their 
consideration, and on the memorable Fourth of July, 1776, it was 
adopted by the entire Congress. 

The discussions on all these important measures were natu- 
rally long and animated, and in all of them Mr. Adams took the 
lead. Jefferson, in compliment to his ability and influence, 
said : "The great pillar of support to the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, and its ablest advocate and champion on the floor of 
the House, was John Adams." Continuing his eulogy at an- 
other time he said : ' ' He was our Colossus on the floor. Not 
graceful, not elegant, not always fluent in his public addresses, 
he yet came out with a power, both of thought and expression, 
which moved us from our seats." 

Mr. Adams certainly possessed the peculiar qualities necessary 
for the times. His bold, energetic, sincere eloquence carried 
conviction with it, and as he was warmed and animated by his 
own conscientious opinions, his very earnestness of speech 
moulded the minds of those about him, just as the sturdy, hon- 
est strokes of the blacksmith's hammer shape the iron on his 
anvil. 

Writing to Mrs. Adams of the memorable events which were 
then transpiring, he said : 

"Yesterday the greatest question was decided that ever was debated in 
America ; and greater, perhaps, never was or will be decided among men. 
A resolution was passed, without one dissenting colony, 'that these United 
Colonies are, and cf right ought to be, free and independent States. ' The 
day is passed. The fourth of July, 1776, will be a memorable epoch in the 
history of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding 
generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated 
as the day of deliverance by solemn acts cf devotion to Almighty God. It 
ought to be solemnized with pomp, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires 
and illuminations from one end of the continent to the other, from this time 
forward forever. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it 
will cost to maintain this declaration and support and defend these colonies; 
yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of light and glory. I can see 
that the end is worth more than all the means, ana that posterity may tri- 
umph, although you and I may rue, which I hope we shall not." 

Still other honors awaited Mr. Adams on his return home 



60 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



from the memorable session of Congress. On reaching Massa- 
chusetts he was chosen a member of the Council of Massachu- 
setts, which occupied the place formerly held by the Governor's 
Council. Accepting the appointment, he assisted in their de- 
liberations, but declined the office of Chief Justice because it 
would interfere with his duties in Congress. 

After the American army on Long Island had been defeated 
in August, 1776, by the British forces under Lord Howe, the 
British commander thought it would be a favorable moment for 
negotiation, and requested an interview with some of the mem- 
bers of Congress. Mr. Adams opposed the plan, as likely to 
produce no favorable result, but he was overruled and a com- 
mittee appointed to treat with the British general, consisting of 
himself. Dr. Franklin and Edward Rutledge. They were re- 
ceived with much politeness by General Howe, but he was not 
willing to treat with them as a committee of Congress, and they 
were not willing to be considered in any other capacity. " You 
may view me in any light you please," said Mr. Adams, " except 
that of a British subject." Lord Howe had no more satisfactory 
terms of peace to offer than that the colonies should return to 
the allegiance and government of Great Britain. These terms, 
the commissioners stated to him, were out of the question, and 
thus, as Mr. Adams had predicted, the negotiation was entirely 
fruitless. 

Mr. Adams returned to Congress, and remained constantly in 
attendance and close in his attention to public affairs through the 
remainder of the year 1776 and throughout 1777. During these 
sessions he was a member of ninety committees, twice as many 
as any other member, except R. H. Lee and Samuel Adams, 
served on. Of these committees he was chairman of twenty- 
five, the most laborious and important one being the board of 
war. From these important and arduous duties he was relieved 
by being appointed, in November, 1777, a Commissioner to 
France in the place of Silas Deane, who was recalled. Benjamin 
Franklin and Arthur Lee were the other members. The object 
of the mission was to obtain assistance in arms and money from 
the French Government. 

The acceptance of this appointment was an act of much cour- 



JOHN ADAMS. 



61 



age on the part of Mr. Adams, and of devotion to the cause. It 
not only necessitated a separation from his family, but it obliged 
him to cross the ocean in the depth of winter, when the sea was 
swarming with ships of the enemy, who would have treated 
him with pitiless severity had they captured him. Of his voy- 
age, which was taken on board the frigate Boston, an incident 
is related which proves that Mr. Adams' courage was not exclu- 
sively moral. Meeting with a large English ship, showing a 
tier of guns, Captain Tucker, the commander of the Boston, 
asked Mr. Adams' consent to engage her. This was readily 
granted. Upon hailing her she answered with a broadside. 
Mr. Adams had been requested to retire to the cockpit, but 
Tucker, looking forward, observed him among the marines 
with a musket in his hands, having privately applied to the 
officer of the marines for a gun and taken his station among 
them. At this sight Captain Tucker became alarmed for the 
safety of Mr. Adams, and walking up to the ambassador, desired 
to know how he came there. Upon which Mr. Adams smiled, 
gave up his gun and went immediately below. 

Mr. Adams arrived in France too late to participate in the 
treaty of alliance and commerce which had previously been 
signed, and after remaining until Dr. Franklin was appointed 
Minister Plenipotentiary, Mr. Adams asked and received per- 
mission to return home, which he did in the summer of 1779. 

Massachusetts again claimed his services on his return, soon 
after which he was chosen a member of the convention called 
to prepare a Constitution for the State, and being on the com- 
mittee to draft the document, much of his statesmanship was 
recognized in its construction. 

Soon after this, Congress decided to send a Minister Plenipo- 
tentiary to negotiate a peace with Great Britain. For this im- 
portant position Mr. Adams and Mr. Jay, who at that time was 
President of Congress, were put in nomination, the vote being 
a tie. But the next day Mr. Jay was unanimously elected to 
fill the position of Minister to Spain, and Mr. Adams was se- 
lected as Minister to England. He embarked in the French 
man-of-war La Sensible, on the 17th of November, 1779, and 
being obliged to land at Corunna, in Spain, he traveled from 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS, 



there over the mountains to Paris, where he at once met with 
Dr. Franklin and the French Prime Minister. Upon first com- 
munication with England it became evident that peace with 
her on the terms we required was impracticable. Mr. Adams' 
instructions were to insist upon the recognition of the colonies 
as free and independent, and on a right to the fisheries. 

The terms of Congress not even being considered, it was need- 
less for Mr. Adams to go to England. Remaining in Paris until 
August, 1780, he received a note of approbation from Congress, 
and instructioDs to proceed at once to Holland, as Minister, in 
place of Mr. Laurens, who on his voyage to that country was 
unfortunately captured by the enemy. 

In December Mr. Adams was invested with full power to form 
a treaty of friendship and commerce with Holland. But he 
found many difficulties to contend with in his ministerial efforts. 
Being unable to speak the language, and thrown on the re- 
sources of an interpreter, it was difficult to convince the Dutch 
capitalists and money-brokers of the resources of a country of 
which they were so ignorant, and they were unwilling to make 
loans without full knowledge of the security, and it devolved 
on Mr. Adams to write a number of papers in answer to ques- 
tions propounded to him by Mr. Kalkoan, an eminent jurist of 
Amsterdam. These papers contained a summary of the rise 
and progress of the difficulty between the colonies and England, 
and the resources and prospects of the United States. Public 
opinion was strongly influenced by these able documents of Mr. 
Adams, and he eventually, in 1782, secured a loan of eight mill- 
ion guilders for the United States. 

In July, 1781, while Mr. Adams was in Holland, he was sum- 
moned to Paris, where it became necessary for him to exercise 
his great diplomatic skill in a plan for mediation proposed by 
the Courts of Austria and Russia. Mr. Adams, during these 
negotiations, became aware of the intriguing intentions of Count 
de Vergennes, the French Prime Minister. He showed an an- 
noying desire to predominate in the negotiations for peace, so 
that he could secure for France the largest share of the com- 
mercial advantages which England might be disposed to yield 
to the colonies, and Mr. Adams very shrewdly saw that the 



JOHN ADAMS. 



63 



Prime Minister desired to withhold from the British Cabinet the 
knowledge of Mr. Adams' full powers respecting a treaty of 
commerce. Count de Yergennes had taken a dislike to the 
straightforward, outspoken, manly American Minister, and he 
had the French Minister at Philadelphia complain of tbe con- 
duct of Mr. Adams, embracing in his communication to Con- 
gress the following request : " That they be impressed with the 
necessity of prescribing . to their Plenipotentiary a perfect and 
open confidence in the French Minister, and a thorough reliance 
on the King ; and after giving him, in his instructions, the prin- 
cipal and most important outlines for his conduct, they would 
order him, with respect to the manner of carrying them into 
execution, to receive his directions from the Count de Ver- 
gennes, or from the persons who might be charged with the ne- 
gotiations in the name of the King. " 

Congress, not wishing to offend the French Government, in- 
structed Mr. Adams to act in accordance with this request. The 
mediation, however, was not accepted, because Austria and 
Russia would not acknowledge the independence of America 
until England would do so, not desiring to sever their friendly 
relations with Great Britain. 

But the war was rapidly drawing to a close. CornwaUis and 
his army had surrendered, and England, after expending over 
$400,000,000 and losing fifty thousand lives in the contest, at 
last decided to give up the hopeless effort to subjugate the colo- 
nies, and made overtures for peace. In 1782 Congress appointed 
Mr. Adams, Dr. Franklin, Mr. Jay, Mr. Henry Laurens and Mr. 
Jefferson commissioners for negotiating a peace. These able 
statesmen, like Mr. Adams, were also placed under an unworthy 
concession to the French Government by their instructions, 
but they wisely resolved to disobey the rash orders of Con- 
gress, and to secure for our country the many advantages which 
the intriguing French Minister desired to secure for his own 
land. Thus was a most honorable and satisfactory treaty of 
peace secured, which was signed on the 80th of November, 1782, 
and ratified on the 14th of January, 1784, and to the firmness 
and ability of our commissioners is due the thanks of the past 5 
present and future generations of American freemen. 



64 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Having become an independent nation, Congress resolved, in 
January, 1785, to appoint a Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court 
of Great Britain, and Mr. Adams was selected to perform the 
important and delicate duties of the office. The account of the 
reception of Mr. Adams, and his actions under the somewhat 
embarrassing circumstances of the occasion, cannot fail of being 
of universal interest, and this Mr. Adams himself has given to 
history, in a description of the events, as follows : 

" During my interview with the Marquis of Carmarthen, he told me it was 
customary for every foreign Minister, at his first presentation to the King, to 
make his Majesty some compliments conformable to the spirit of his creden- 
tials, and when Sir Clement Cottrel Dormer, the master of the ceremonies, 
came to inform me that he should accompany me to the Secretary of State 
and to Court, said that every foreign Minister whom he had attended to the 
Queen had always made a harangue to her Majesty, and he understood, 
though he had not been present, that they always harangued the King. On 
Tuesday evening the Baron de Lynden— Dutch Ambassador— called upon me, 
and said he came from the Baron de Nolkin, Swedish envoy, and had been 
conversing upon the singular situation I was in, and they agreed in opinion 
that it was indispensable that I should make a speech, and that it should be 
as complimentary as possible. All this was parallel to the advice lately given 
by the Count de Vergennes to Mr. Jeflferson. So that, finding it was a custom 
established at both these great Courts, that this Court and the foreign Minis- 
ters expected it, I thought I could not avoid it, although my first thought and 
inclination .had oeen to deliver my credentials silently and retire. At one on 
Wednesday, the first of June, the master of ceremonies called at my house, 
and went with me to the Secretary of State's office in Cleveland Row, where 
the Marquis of Carmarthen received me and introduced me to Mr. Frazier, 
his under secretary, who had been, as his Lordship said, uninterruptedly in 
that office, through all the changes in administration, for thirty years, hav- 
ing first been appointed by the Earl of Holderness. After a short conversa- 
tion upon the subject of importing my effects from Holland and France free 
of duty, which Mr. Frazier himself introduced, Lord Carmarthen invited me 
to go with him in his coach to Court. When we arrived in the antechamber, 
the CEil de Bceuf of St. James, the master of ceremonies met me and at- 
tended me while the Secretary of State went to take the commands of the 
King. While I stood in this place, where it seems all ministers stand upon 
such occasions, always attended by the Master of Ceremonies., the room very 
full of ministers of state, bishops and all sorts of courtiers, as well as 1 he 
next room, which is the King's bedchamber, you may well suppose that I 
was the focus of all eyes. I was relieved, however, from the embarrassment 
of it by the Swedish and Dutch ministers, who came to me and entertained 
me in a very agreeable conversation during the whole time. Some other 
gentlemen whom I had seen before, came to make their compliments too, 



JOHN ADAMS, 



05 



until the Marquis of Carmarthen returned and desired me to go with him to 
his Majesty. I went with his lordship through the levee into the King's 
closet. The door was shut, and I was left with his Majesty and the Secrt-tary 
of State alone. I made the three reverences; one at the door, another about 
half way, and the third before the presence, according to the usage estab- 
lished at this and all the Northern Courts of Europe, and then addressed my- 
self to his Majesty in the following words: ' Sir, the United States of America 
have appointed me their Minister Plenipotentiary to your Majesty, and have 
directed me to deliver to your Majesty that which contains the evidence of 
it. It is in obedience to their express commands that I have the honor to as- 
sure your Majesty of their unanimous disposition and desire to cultivate the 
most friendly and liberal intercourse between your Majesty's subjects and 
their citizens, and of their best wishes for your Majesty's health and happi- 
ness, and for that of your royal family. The appointment. of a Minister 
from the United States to your Majesty's Court will form an epoch in the 
history of England and America. I think myself more fortunate than all 
my fellow-citizens in having the distinguished honor to be the first to stand 
in your Majesty's royal presence in a diplomatic character, and I shall esteem 
myself the happiest of men if 1 can be instrumental in recommending my 
country more and more to your Majesty's royal benevolence, and of restor- 
ing an entire esteem, confidence and affection, or, in better words, "the old 
good nature and the old good harmony " between people who, though sep- 
arated by an ocean and under different governments, have the same lan- 
guage, a similar religion and kindred blood. I beg your Majesty 's permission 
to add that, although I have sometimes before been intrusted by my country, 
it was never in my whole life so agreeable to myself.' The King listened to 
every word I said, with dignity it is true, but with apparent em otion . Whether 
it was the nature of the interview, or whether it was my visible agitation — 
for I felt more than I did or could express— that touched him, I cannot say, 
but he was much affected, and answered me with more tremor than I had 
spoken with, and said: 'Sir, the circumstances of this audience are so ex- 
traordinary, the language you have now held is so extremely proper, and the 
feelings you have discovered so justly adapted to the occasion, that I must 
say that I not only receive with pleasure the assurances of the friendly dis- 
position of the people of the United States, but that I am very glad the choice 
has fallen upon you to be their Minister. I wish you, sir, to believe, and that 
it maybe understood in America, that I have done nothing in the late contest 
but what I thought myself indispensably bound to do by the duty which I 
owed to my people. I will be frank with you. I was the last to conform to 
the separation, but the separation having been made, and having become in- 
evitable, I have always said, as I say now, that I would be the first to meet 
the friendship of the United States as an independent power. The moment 
I see such sentiments and language as yours prevail, and a disposition to 
give this country the preference, that moment I shall say, let the circum- 
stances of language, religion and blood have their natural and full effect.' 

"I dare not say that these were the King's precise words, and it is even 
possible that I may have in some particular mistaken his meaning, for q\i 



66 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



though his pronunciation is as distinct as I ever heard, he hesitated some- 
times between his periods, and between the members of the same period. 
He was indeed much affected, and I was not less so, and therefore I cannot 
be certain that I was attentive, heard so clearly and understood so perfectly 
as to be confident of all his words or sense. This I do say, that the forego- 
ing is his Majesty's meaning, as I then understood it, and his own words, as 
nearly as I can recollect them. 

"The King then asked me whether I came last from France, and upon an- 
swering: in the affirmative, he put on an air of familiarity, and smiling, or 
rather laughing, said : ' There is an opinion among some people that you are 
not the most attached of all your countrymen to the manners of France.' I 
was surprised at this, because I thought it an indiscretion and a descent from 
his dignicy. I was a little embarrassed, but determined not to deny the truth 
on one hand, nor leave him to infer from it any attachment to England on 
the other. I threw off as much gravity as I could, and assumed an air of 
gayety and atone of decision as far as it was decent: c That opinion, sir, is not 
mistaken. I must avow to your Majesty I have no attachment but to my 
own country.' The King replied, as quick as lightning: ' An honest man will 
have no other.* 

" The King then said a word or two to the Secretary of State, which being 
between them I did not hear, and then turned and bowed to me, as is cus- 
tomary with all kings and princes when they give the signal to retire. I re- 
treated, stepping backward as is the etiquette, and making my last reverence 
at the door of the chamber, I went my way. The Master of Ceremonies 
joined me at the moment of my coming out of the King's closet, and accom- 
panied me through all the apartments down to my carriage. Several stages of 
servants, gentleman porters and under-porters, roared out like thunder as I 
went along, ' Mr. Adams' servants, Mr. Adams' carriage,' etc. " 

The very courteous reception given to Mr. Adams at the Brit- 
ish Court led the United States to suppose that the relations 
between the two countries would be very amicable, but as soon 
as the matter passed into the hands of the British Ministry, it 
was soon made apparent that they were unfriendly toward us. 
Their pride had been cut before the world by our victory over 
them and their loss of the colonies, and they took a petty re- 
venge in refusing to listen to any proposals for entering into a 
commercial treaty. 

Mr. Adams, during his residence in London, found that he 
could render other valuable services to his country by the exer- 
cise of his literary talents in the line of statesmanship. The 
philosophers and statesmen of Europe were deeply interested in 
watching the results of our experiment of self-government, and 
a great variety of opinions were being expressed on our pros- 



JOHN ADAMS. 



67 



pects of success or failure. Among the distinguished men who 
expressed dissatisfaction with the system of our political organ- 
ization were Mons. Turgot, the Abbe de Mably and Dr. Price. 
In a letter to Dr. Price, M. Turgot gave expression to the follow- 
ing views : ' ' The Americans have established three bodies, viz. : 
a Governor, Council and House of Eepresentatives, merely be- 
cause there is in England a King, a House of Lords and a House 
of Commons, as if this influence, which in England may be a 
necessary check to the enormous influence of royalty, could be 
of any use in republics founded upon the equality of all the citi- 
zens ;" and M. Turgot continued by recommending that the 
whole power be concentrated in one representative assembly. 
Similar opinions were advanced by other authors of high char- 
acter, which were calculated to unduly influence our people and 
shake their confidence in our system of government. We were 
then passing through a dark period in our history. The Federal 
Government had not been formed, our financial condition was 
critical, and much despondency was felt. 

Mr. Adams, to counteract these impressions, wrote and pub- 
lished in London his ' ' Defense of the American Constitutions," 
in three volumes, and, though hastily written, it was a most 
able work, and did great service in counteracting the pernicious 
effects of the expressed opinions of the savants of Europe and 
restoring the confidence of our people in our system of govern- 
ment, as well as securing the respect of other countries. 

Mr. Adams growing weary of the long absence from his 
family, asked and received permission to return home in 1787, 
and was again joined to his family and friends, after a separa- 
tion of eight or nine years, receiving on his arrival a vote of 
thanks from Congress for the able and faithful manner in which 
he had performed the important commissions intrusted with 
him while abroad. 

If Mr. Adams had anticipated retirement to private life on his 
return to his native country, he was destined to disappointment, 
for in 1788 he was elected Vice-President of the United States, 
and re-elected in 1792. In 1796 General Washington retired 
from public life and Mr. Adams was elected President of the 
United States. 



68 LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 

It seems strange, after the able and patriotic public services 
of Mr. Adams, that he so soon became unpopular in his admin- 
istration of public affairs, but a few facts in reference to his ac- 




mDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA. 

tions may serve the wishes and expectations of those seeking 
the information. It was during his administration that that 
great political convulsion, the French Revolution, startled the 
world, and created the most intense excitement and misgivings 



JOHN ADAMS. 



69 



as to the limits it would reach and its results. It was viewed 
by many of our people as the dawning light of freedom in Eu- 
rope, and its excesses and atrocities were charitably viewed as 
but the natural results of the wild excitement which would 
naturally take possession of an enthusiastic, uneducated popu- 
lation at the sudden change from the most galling despotism to 
entire freedom, and as we were young in the enjoyment of our 
own dearly-bought republican institutions, there was an almost 
universal expression of admiration and sympathy. There were, 
however, many wiser heads in our country, who viewed the 
French Revolution with alarm and disgust. They abhorred its 
countless atrocities committed in the name of liberty, regarded 
with suspicion and dislike the characters of its leaders, and 
dreaded the influence of its principles as tending to overthrow 
the whole social fabric and introduce the most visionary schemes 
of polity in the place of the governments whose excellence had 
stood the test of ages. Mr. Adams belonged to this class of 
practical statesmen, who were naturally unpopular with the 
mass of visionary enthusiasts. It is true, while residing in Eu- 
rope he had imbibed an extreme and even unreasonable preju- 
dice against the French people, and he naturally viewed the 
worst phases of their revolution. It must be remembered also 
that we were involved in a dispute with France at the com- 
mencement of his administration, and Mr. Adams believed that 
an apology was due us for an insult to our Ambassador, while 
the majority believed that our Minister had insulted France and 
that we should apologize. Mr. Adams, however, persisted in 
his course, sending three commissioners to France, who were 
treated insolently, for which the public blamed Mr. Adams, and 
he failed to please either his own party or the opposition. This 
bitterness was carried to a dishonorable extreme and fomented 
by the press, which assailed Mr. Adams by the violation of the 
confidences of private life, and in the unkindest and most un- 
warrantable personal allusions. His previous public acts were 
warped and perverted. He was unjustly accused of favoring 
monarchical institutions, and his "Defense of the American 
Constitutions," with its plan of an executive and two houses of 
legislation, was quoted as a proof of his prepossessions in favor 



70 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



of a king, lords and commons. Even his early act of manly 
moral courage in defending Captain Preston was cited as an 
evidence of his being under British influence. Thomas J effer- 
son was one of his political opponents who retained the highest 
personal respect for the political integrity of Mr. Adams, and 
upon one occasion he defended Mr. Adams from the accusations 
of some young politicians in his presence by saying : ' ' Gentle- 
men, you do not know that man. There is not upon this earth 
a more perfectly honest man than John Adams. Concealment 
is no part of his character. It is not in his nature to meditate 
anything that he would not publish to the world. The meas- 
ures of the general government are a fair subject for differences 
of opinion, but do not found your opinion on the notion that 
there is the smallest spice of dishonesty, moral or political, in 
the character of John Adams, for I know him well, and I repeat, 
that a man more perfectly honest never issued from the hands 
of his Creator." 

Mr. Adams also made himself somewhat unpopular in his 
efforts to establish a navy, and he deserves the title of Father of 
the American Navy. 

He lacked those dignified and conciliatory manners which 
Mr. Jefferson possessed, and in moments of excitement he was 
often led into intemperate expressions and rash actions. 

At the end of his Presidential term, in March, 1801, he retired 
to his home in Quincy, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, 
where he passed the remainder of his days, where agricultural 
and literary pursuits, and correspondence and entertainment of 
friends, filled the measure of his time. He defended the policy 
of Mr. Jefferson's administration toward England, and opposed 
the views of the people of his own State in advocating the expe- 
diency of the war which was then inevitable between the two 
countries. In 1815, however, he had the gratification of seeing 
his son at the head of the commission which signed the treaty 
of peace with Great Britain. In 1816 he was chosen a member 
of the College of Electors, which voted for Mr. Monroe for 
President. 

In 1818 he was called upon to sustain the deepest affliction of 
his life, the death of his beloved and faithful wife, who had 



JOHN ADAMS. 



71 



shared with him all the mingled joys and sorrows of his exist- 
ence, and with him borne all sacrifices for their country's sake. 
On this occasion he received the following beautiful letter 
from Mr. Jefferson, between whom and himself a warm friend- 
ship had been renewed : 

"Monticello, Nov. 13, 1818. 
" The public papers, my dear friend, announce the fatal event of which 
your letter of October 20th had given me ominous foreboding. Tried myself 
in the school of affliction, by the loss of every form of connection which can 
rivo the human heart, I know well and fell what you have lost, what you have 
suffered, are suffering and have yet to endure . The same trials have taught 
me that fcr ills so immeasurable, time and silence are the only medicines. 
I will not, therefore, by useless condolence open afresh the sluices of your 
grief, nor, although mingling sincerely my tears with yours,- will I say a word 
mere where words are vain; but that it is some comfort to us both that the 
time is not very distant at which we are to deposit in the same cerement our 
sorrows and suffering bodies, and to ascend in essence to an ecstatic meet- 
ing with the friends we have loved and lost, and whom we shall still love 
and never lose again. God bless you and su port you under your heavy 
affliction. Thomas Jefferson." 

In 1820 a convention of the people of Massachusetts was called 
for the purpose of revising their State Constitution. To this 
Convention Mr. Adams was elected as a member from Quincy, 
and in compliment to his high services to his country, and in 
respect for his character, he was unanimously elected to preside 
over the body, and a very flattering preamble and resolution 
was passed and offered to him as a token to his great powers of 
mind, his profound wisdom, his fearless vindication of the rights 
of the North American provinces, his diffusion of a knowledge 
of the principles of civil liberty among his fellow-subjects, his 
early conception of the ideas of independence, the powerful aid 
of his political knowledge in the formation of the State and Na- 
tional Constitutions, in conciliating foreign powers, in nego- 
tiating the treaty of peace, in demonstrating to the world the 
excellence of our form of government, in devoting his time and 
talents to the service of the nation, and lastly, in passing an 
honorable old age in dignified retirement ; therefore it was re- 
solved that the members of the Convention testify their respect 
and gratitude to this eminent patriot and statesman for the 
great services rendered by him to his country, and their high 



72 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



gratification that at this late period of life he was permitted, by 
Divine Providence, to assist them with his counsel in revising 
the Constitution which, forty years before, his wisdom and pru- 
dence assisted to form. 

A committee was appointed to wait upon him to communicate 
the proceedings, and to inform him of his election to preside 
over the Convention, but on account of his advanced age, being 
then eighty-five years old, he was compelled to decline the honor 
of being their presiding officer ; but he still fulfilled his duties as 
a member. 

i The world has rarely seen a spectacle of greater moral beauty 
and grandeur than was presented by Mr. Adams in his old age. 
Party prejudices and rivalries had died away, and the full ap- 
preciation of his noble and lif elong patriotic services began to 
be accorded to him while he yet lived. His domestic and social 
relations had always been happy, and he was surrounded by a 
large circle of admiring friends. Visitors from all parts of the 
world came to see and pay their respects to the venerable old 
man who had done so much for his country, and those who 
looked upon his aged form could not but think how much of 
the strength and prime of manhood he had given up for the 
public good. Kindly had Providence spared him to witness the 
complete success of the institutions he had so arduously labored 
for and assisted in creating and supporting. He could see the 
growing strength of our country as it was reaching out over the 
broad land, and building towns and cities and adding new 
States to the glorious nation. Preserving his mind bright and 
unclouded to the last, he retained his enjoyment of books, con- 
versation and reflection. In 1824 an additional gratification was 
added to his life by the election of his son to the highest office 
in the gift of the people. 

At last, on the 4th of July, 1826, a strange coincidence oc- 
curred, which thrilled the country as though it were a direct 
and special manifestation of God's power. When the morning 
of that memorable day dawned, which completed the half -cen- 
tury since the sigoing of the Declaration of Independence, there 
were but three of the eigners of that immortal instrument left 
upon earth to hail its morning light, and when the sun had set 



JOHN ADAMS. 



73 



two of their souls had fled to God ; a coincidence which appears 
almost miraculous. Mr. Adams had for several days been 
rapidly failing, and on the morning of the fourth he was too 
weak to rise from his bed. His attendants requesting from him 
a toast for the customary celebration of the day, he exclaimed : 
"Independence forever !" And while the ringing of bells and 
firing of cannon were ushering in the day, he was asked if he 
knew what day it was, and replied: "Oh, yes, it is the glorious 
Fourth of July. God bless it ; God bless all of you." Gradually 
sinking as the day progressed, his last words were : ' ' Jefferson 
survives. " But at one o'clock the earthly pilgrimage of Thomas 
Jefferson had ended, and together on the same day the souls of 
these heroes and patriots were taking their flight upward and 
onward beyond world and planet and star. 

When the news spread throughout the country that these two 
men, so identified with the glory and prosperity of their coun- 
try, had both died on the same day, there was a solemn thrill 
throughout the land, and the general feeling, in the language of 
one of the eulogists, was ' ' that, had the prophet led his ' chariot 
of fire' and his 'horses of fire,' their ascent could hardly have 
been more glorious," and a solemn commemoration of their 
death was everywhere held. 

Mr. Adams was the father of four children, of whom only his 
son John Quincy Adams reached any degree of distinction. To 
this son he left his mansion and his valuable papers. To the 
town of Quincy he gave a lot on which to erect a church of the 
denomination of which he had been a member for sixty years. 
He also bequeathed another lot to the town for an academy 
and gave them for its use his library of more than two thousand 
volumes. 

Thus ended the life and public labors of this great patriot and 
statesman, and thus he passed away from earth, leaving a name 
and memory which will never die. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



The life of the man who. framed the immortal Declaration of 
Independence is one in which the lover of his country and the 
admirer of her institutions cannot fail to take deep interest. It 
is but natural that men will seek to know the origin of one who 
has been intrusted with the destinies of a nation, and the facts 
of his early life, and of the expanding of bis mind. With 
eager curiosity we look back, and in the sports of his childhood, 
in the pursuits and occupations of his youth, we seek the origin 
and source of all that is noble and exalted in the man, the 
germ and the bud from which have burst forth the fair fruit 
and the beautiful flower ; and we carefully treasure up each 
trifling incident and childish expression, in the hope to trace in 
them some feature of his after greatness. 

Feeling that even the childhood of a man like Thomas Jeffer- 
son, and the growth of those feelings and opinions which after- 
ward embodied themselves in the Declaration of American 
Independence, would be interesting to every American, we 
should deem it fortunate could we give even a short sketch of 
his early life. But of this or of his family we have few accounts, 
and must therefore content ourselves with a general outline of 
his after life, so full of striking events and useful labors. 

Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, 
was born in the year 1743, at Shadwell, the family estate of his 
father, in Albemarle County, Ya., not far from Monticello, 
where he afterward resided. At a very early period in the 
history of the country his family emigrated from Wales and 
became respectable citizens in the colonies. His father was 
Peter Jefferson, who was married in 1739 to Jane, daughter of 
Isham Randolph, by whom he had six daughters and two sons, 
of whom Thomas was the elder. Peter Jefferson was a self- 



76 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



educated man of talent and science, and at rather an early day 
was appointed, together with Joshua Fry, then Professor of 
Mathematics in William and Mary College, to complete the 
boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina, which had 
been begun some time before ; and also to make the first map 
of the State, since that made or rather conjectured by Captain 
Smith could scarcely be called one. 

At the age of five years Thomas was sent to an English school, 
and at the age of nine was placed under the care of Mr. Douglass, 
with whom he continued until his father's death in August, 
1757, by which event he became possessed of the estate of 
Shadwell, his birthplace. For two years after his father's 
death he received instructions from the Rev. Mr. Maury, a fine 
classical scholar, at the end of which time, in the year 1760, he 
entered William and Mary College, at which he remained two* 
years. Of his instructor at this famous college he wrote as 
follows : 

" It was my great fortune, and probably fixed the destinies of my life, that 
Dr. William Small, of Scotland, was then Professor of Mathematics ; a man 
profound in most of the useful branches of science, with a happy talent of com- 
municatior, correct and gentlemanly manners and an enlarged and liberal 
mind. He, most happily for me, soon became attached to me, and made me 
his daily companion, when not engaged in the school ; and from his conver- 
sation I got my first views of the expansion of science, and of the system of 
things in which we are placed. Fortunately the philosophical chair became 
vacant soon after my arrival at college, and he was appointed to fill it ad 
interim ; and he was the first who ever gave in that college regular lectures 
in Ethics, Rhetoric and Belles Lettres. He returned to Europe in 1762, hav- 
ing previously filled up the measure of his goodness to me by procuring for 
me from his most intimate friend, George Wythe, a reception as a student of 
law under his direction, and introduced me to the acquaintance and familiar 
table of Governor Farquier, the ablest man who had ever filled that ofiice. 
With him and at his table, Dr. Small and Mr. Wythe, his amici omnium 
horarum and myself, formed apartie quarree, and to the habitual conversa- 
tion on these occasions I owed much instruction. Mr. Wythe continued to 
be my faithfu and beloved mentor in youth, and my most affectionate friend 
through life." 

In 1767 Mr. Jefferson embarked in the practice of law, and 
rapidly rose in his profession, in which he distinguished himself 
by his energy and great legal talent. It will never be known to 
what eminence he would have reached in the profession, for the 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



77 



emergencies of the times soon called him out of the dull pro- 
ceedings and limited sphere of a colonial court to the higher 
duties of patriotism and statesmanship. England, which had 
never been kind toward her colonies, was gradually becoming 
more oppressive toward them, and was continually manifesting 
some open violation of the rights of her American subjects. 
Her ministers exhibited either an ignorance or blindness to the 
consequences of an oppression of the Pilgrims who crossed the 
Atlantic to seek a refuge from the oppression of a King and an 
Archbishop, and they seemed utterly unconscious that the 
same spirit of liberty that led them to their wilderness home 
would compel them, now that the arm of the oppressor had fol- 
lowed them across the water, to resist, even unto blood, the 
exactions of a Parliament. The oppressive acts of the British 
Cabinet were already arousing a spirit of resistance in the 
colonies, which was stirring the people from Massachusetts to 
the Carolinas, and each encroachment of the mother country 
was watched with the utmost vigilance, and discussed in the 
political arena of every village. The courts of law were soon 
deserted ; the rights of individuals were forgotten for the rights 
of nations ; the contests for things were forgotten in the con- 
tests for principles. 

These difficulties opened up to Mr. Jefferson a new field, and 
abandoning almost entirely the profession of the law, he took 
an active part in political life, for which his qualifications and 
inclinations so eminently fitted him. Eecognizing his political 
fitness, the people of Albemarle County re-elected him to repre- 
sent them as a member of the General Assembly of Virginia. In 
this session he made his premature effort for the emancipation 
of slaves, but without success, as the personal interests involved 
were too large, and as England was reaping indirectly too great 
benefit from the institution of slavery for anything so liberal to 
expect success. This session of the Assembly was of short 
duration, on account of its dissolution by Lord Botetourt, the 
English Colonial Governor of Virginia, who took offense at the 
passage of certain resolutions indorsing the action of Massachu- 
setts in resisting the imposition of England. This action of the 
Colonial Governor did not relegate Mr. Jefferson to private life, 



78 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



for he was immediately re-elected, and continued a member 
until the Revolution put an end to the meeting of those bodies. 
. The people of Virginia were quick to resent by their voice the 
oppression of Great Britain, and in 1773 her Legislature appointed 
Mr. Jefferson on the committee of correspondence to communi- 
cate with similar committees to be appointed in other colonies 




for the purpose of organized resistance to British aggression. 
This was a wise measure, and it soon became apparent that 
in union there was strength, and that co-operation between 
the colonies for a common cause would cement them in a 
national bond which had never before existed. Although the 
people of Virginia were ready to show their spirit of resistance 
and their determination not to submit to any infringement of 
their liberties, they were not so far advanced in their opposition 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



79 



to the encroachments of the British Government as Massachu- 
setts. It was particularly the latter State, and especially Boston, 
that had felt the weight of the British heel, and her cup of 
wrongs was nearly full when the Boston Port Bill completed 
the measure. The passage of this bill caused a profound sensa- 
tion throughout the country, and roused the people to a realiza- 
tion of the situation. This overt act of the British Government 
in closing the Port of Boston, while bearing upon the direct 
interests and prosperity of only that town and colony, its prin- 
ciple reached the entire country, and showed conclusively the 
determination of England to destroy one by one the liberties of 
America, and it taught them that they must live and die the 
slaves of absolute power, or promptly and manfully make com- 
mon cause with Massachusetts. The Assembly of Virginia was 
in session when the Port Bill was passed, and Patrick Henry, 
Jefferson and a few other fearless patriots among the members 
secured the passage of a resolution setting apart the first day of 
June, 1774, on which the act was to go into operation, as a day 
of fasting, humiliation and prayer, and in its language, "de- 
voutly to implore the Divine interposition for averting the 
heavy calamities which threatened destruction to their civil 
rights, and the evils of a civil war, and to give them one mind to 
oppose by all just and proper means every injury to American 
rights." 

It was but natural that this resolution offended the loyal 
devotion of Governor Lord Dunmore, who immediately exer- 
cised his royal prerogative of dissolving the Assembly. The 
members, not to be thwarted by their British Governor, met in 
convention as private individuals and passed resolutions recom- 
mending the people of the colony to elect deputies to a State 
Convention, for the purpose of considering the affairs of the 
colony and also to appoint delegates to a General Congress in 
case such a measure should be agreed to by the other colonies. 

To the State Convention which met in pursuance of these 
resolutions, Mr. Jefferson was chosen a member, but being 
prevented by sickness from attending, he sent a draft of some 
instructions for the delegates to the General Congress. These 
instructions, on account of their bold assertion of the rights of 



80 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



the colonies, their denial of the authority claimed by Parlia- 
ment to legislate for them, and their strong comments on the 
King and the administration, were thought by more moderate 
members too severe, and they refused to adopt them, but they 
were published by the convention under the name of " A Sum- 
mary View of the Rights of British America." The pamphlet 
naturally found its way to England, where, after some altera- 
tions, it was published and several editions circulated. The 
result was that Mr. Jefferson was threatened with a prosecu- 
tion for high treason by Lord Dunmore, while in England his 
name was added to those of Hancock, Patrick Henry, the Ad- 
amses and others in a bill of attainder commenced in Parlia- 
ment but suppressed in its early stages. 

At a period in our history when scarcely any one had thought 
of separation from the mother country as a remedy for our 
wrongs, and when many of the most ardent patriots of our 
subsequent Revolution only desired England to deal with us 
more fairly as loyal subjects, the position taken by Jefferson 
was indeed a bold one. Mr. Jefferson explained his position as 
follows : 

" I took the ground that, from the beginning, I had thought the only one 
orthodox or tenable, which was that the relation between Great Britain and 
these colonies was exactly the same as that of England and Scotland after 
the accession of James and until the Union, the same as her present relations 
with Hanover, having the same executive chief, but no other necessary po iti- 
cal connection ; and that our emigration from England to this country gave 
her no more rights over us than the emigrations of the Danes and Saxons 
gave to the present authorities of the mother country over England. In 
this doctrine however, I had never been able to get any one to agree with 
me. but Mr. Wythe. He concurred in it from the first dawn of the question. 
What was the political relation between us and England ? Our other 
patriots, Randolph, the Lees, Nicholas, Pendleton, stopped at the half-way 
house of John Dickinson, who admitted that England had a right to regulate 
our commerce, and to lay duties on it for the purpose of regulation, but not 
of raising revenue. But for this ground there was no foundation in com- 
pact, in any acknowledged principles of colonization, nor in reason, expa- 
triation being a natural right, and acted on as such by all nations in all ages." 

Mr. Jefferson, not being a member of the First Congress, 
which met in Philadelphia September 5th, 1774, in pursuance 
of resolutions passed by the several colonies according to the 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



81 



action and suggestions of Virginia, the proceedings of that 
first session do not constitute any part of the facts in the life 
of Mr. Jefferson and are not here mentioned. But before the 
meeting of the Second Congress, Mr. Jefferson was elected to 
serve in place of Peyton Randolph, who, being Speaker of the 
Virginia House of Burgesses, was obliged to attend the meet- 
ing of that body, and to fill the vacancy Mr. Jefferson took his 
seat on the twenty-first of June, 1775, and was soon placed on 
several very important committees. 

To prove the confidence reposed in Mr. Jefferson, it may be 
related that when he was on his way to Philadelphia with his 
colleagues, Mr. Lee and Mr. Harrison, they received a very flat- 
tering compliment from a number of their fellow citizens who 
met them. These persons were inhabitants of the colony, 
living at a remote part of the country, and having heard by 
report only of the tyranny which was preparing to place its 
foot upon our necks, and addressing Mr. Jefferson and his asso- 
ciates, they said : " You assert that there is a fixed design to 
invade our rights and privileges. We own that we do not see 
this clearly, but since you assure us that this is so, we believe 
the fact. We are about to take a very dangerous step, but we 
confide in you and are ready to support you in every measure 
you shall think proper to adopt." This session was followed by 
the re-election of Mr. Jefferson, by the Convention of Virginia, 
to the Third Congress, in which he also took an active part. 

To us who now look calmly back on the events of that mo- 
mentous period, the conduct of the British Ministry seems little 
short of infatuation. When the American colonists first raised 
their voice against the acts of Parliament, it was but to obtain 
a redress for a few particular grievances. The thought had not 
occurred to them of a separation from the mother country, and 
had it been but whispered to them, the proposition would have 
been universally rejected. They loved their fatherland ; they 
were Englishmen, or the sons of Englishmen, and they looked 
up to the institutions and customs of England with the deepest 
veneration. They would have endured anything but slavery, 
everything but the loss of those rights which, as Englishmen, 
they believed inalienable, and which they held dearer than 



82 



LIVES .OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



existence itself ; and had the British Ministry but adopted con- 
ciliatory measures and relaxed somewhat their pretensions, they 
might still have retained the brightest jewel of the British 
Crown. But instead of adopting the wise counsels of Chatham 
and Burke, they imposed greater burdens and added insult to 
oppression, till it was too late ; till the spirit of opposition had 
acquired a fearful and resistless energy ; till the cloud, at first 
no larger than a man's hand, had spread over the whole 
heavens, and the storm burst with a violence that swept before 
it the firmest bulwarks of British power. For a year or two 
before the meeting of the Congress of 1776, the belief that a 
separation from the mother country was necessary had pre- 
vailed among the leading men of the colonies, and was now 
fast increasing among the great body of the people. They felt 
that the period for reconciliation had gone by. The blood of 
American citizens had been shed upon the plains of Lex- 
ington and Concord, and on the heights of Bunker Hill, and 
nothing was now left but a resort to arms and an assumption of 
their rights as an independent nation. 

To Virginia and her delegates, of whom Mr. Jefferson was 
one of the most prominent, belongs the honor of having intro- 
duced the memorable resolution in Congress on the 7th day of 
June, 1776, in accordance with the instructions given them by 
the Convention of Virginia : " That the Congress should declare 
that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free 
and independent States ; that they are absolved from all alle- 
giance to the British Crown, and that all political connection 
between them and the State of Great Britain is and ought to 
be totally dissolved : that measures should be immediately 
taken for securing the assistance of foreign powers, and a 
confederation be formed to bind the colonists more closely 
together." This was a bold and startling move, and such a 
proposition, so full of grave and doubtful consequences, was 
not to be adopted without mature deliberation, and the follow- 
ing Saturday and Monday it was under full discussion, when it 
was postponed for further consideration to the first day of July, 
and a committee of five were appointed to draft a Declaration 
of Independence. The members selected for this committee 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



83 



were Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Dr. Franklin, Eoger 
Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. Mr. Jefferson, as chair- 
man of the committee, was desired by his colleagues to prepare 
the draft. 

It is certainly appropriate here to consider the causes which 
had been drifting the colonists to this resolute determination 
to sever the ties between them and the mother country. 

England had never been a kind mother to her children be- 
yond the sea, but her treatment of them had always been arbi- 
trary, overbearing and unjust. The colonists had been left to 
take care of themselves, and had grown up entirely without 
her aid or fostering care. The wide ocean separated them from 
all other civilized nations, and England had given them neither 
troops nor money to aid them in their struggle against the wil- 
derness and the savage foe who continually marked the track 
of their inhuman warfare by the blood of the wives and chil- 
dren and the ashes of the dwellings of the settlers, and never 
did England send a soldier to stay the red hand of the blood- 
thirsty foe. Her first soldiers sent were directed against the 
French, and the next were sent to shed the blood of the colonists 
and to incite the fiendish savages to still greater butchery and 
cruelty. In the face of all these difficulties the colonists had 
subdued the forests, cultivated the soil, built up flourishing 
towns over every part of the Atlantic States and sent their ships 
forth to every part of the commercial world. This success but 
served to incite the cupidity and avaricious nature of England, 
and she at once conceived the idea of making the colonies a 
source of wealth to herself and determined to fill her coffers by 
the sweat of their brow. As soon as she saw from the rapidly 
increasing wealth and power of the colonies that they could be 
made a source of a great and continually growing revenue, she 
thought of protection. From that moment it became the fixed 
and determined policy of the British Government to make 
America in everything contribute to the wealth, the importance 
and the glory of England, and every step she took in this direc- 
tion disregarded their rights and welfare. One of the first 
encroachments upon their rights was by denying them the 
exercise of free trade with all parts of the world. This was 



84 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



necessary in furtherance of the intentions of England to make 
them a source of great profit. To accomplish this, Great Britain 
was to be the depot of American exports, into which they 
should pour the fruits of their skill and labor, to be afterward 
shipped to other countries by British merchants, who would 
thereby secure the profit rightfully belonging to the colonists. 
As a source of still greater profit to their greedy and unnatural 
mother, the colonies were compelled to buy all their necessary 
articles of consumption from the British manufacturers at 
such prices as they, without any foreign competition, might 
choose to demand. That British coffers might fill up more 
rapidly, the colonists were forbidden to manufacture for 
themselves, or if permitted in any case it was only to pre- 
pare the raw material for the hands of the British work- 
men, and the Colonial Governors were ordered to abate 
certain kinds of manufactories and mills as common nui- 
sances to English pockets. Encouraged by the profit of 
regulating American commerce, Great Britain's next step was 
to interfere in our domestic affairs in almost every conceivable 
encroachment, of which the Stamp Act, the Tea Act, the Bos- 
ton Port Bill, and similar invasions of the rights of the colonists 
are fair samples. But the descendants of those men who had 
dared all the hardships of an inhospitable shore and an unex- 
plored wilderness were not to be tamely enslaved ; men who 
had the bravery to meet the hostile savage in defense of their 
homes possessed too much courage to permit their rights and 
liberties to be taken from them, one by one, without raising a 
voice or an arm in their defense. Being either natives of England 
or descendants of natives, they believed they were entitled to the 
same rights and privileges as if living under the home govern- 
ment in England, and under the firm conviction of this right 
they were determined to contend for its principles. The first 
attempts to deprive them of rights were met by petitions ; 
those appeals were treated with disregard and other oppressions 
were put on them ; remonstrances were met by insult, and every 
opportunity was sought to irritate them. In vain did Burke 
raise his voice against this mad policy ; in vain did Chatham 
warn them of the disastrous consequences. They were blind 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



85 



to everything but arrogant and malicious motives, and they 
heaped up the measure of bitterness for the colonies until men 
could alone appeal to arms for the justness of their cause. That 
hour had arrived, and Thomas Jefferson was intrusted with 
the high and patriotic duty of preparing that Declaration 
which was to announce the wrongs of America to the world 
and to proclaim her free, sovereign and independent. For 
himself he had not a thought ; a cold, calculating prudence 
in vain warned him of the greatness of the risk, and the small- 
ness of the chance of success ; in vain told him of his country 
pillaged by foreign troops and deluged in the blood of its 
own citizens ; in vain pointed to the gibbet — the rebel's doom. 
Calmly viewing the chances of the loss of all things and the 
death of a traitor, he realized that his country needed the sacri- 
fice and he cheerfully made it. Through all this darkness and 
gloom Hope stood beside him pointing to a bright future, with 
his country free, prosperous and happy. 

What thoughts must have crowded on the mind of Jefferson 
as he penned that immortal paper. Firm in the conviction of 
the righteousness of his country's cause, he went earnestly to 
work with his pen, guided, as it were, by inspiration. The Dec- 
laration of Independence is one of the sublimest political docu- 
ments ever written since the beginning of the world, and it 
alone should be sufficient to stamp his name with immortality. 
The draft of it, as submitted by Mr. Jefferson to his colleagues, 
was reported by the committee, and read on Friday, the 28th 
of June, and after voting affirmatively on the motion of Vir- 
ginia that Congress should declare the colonies free, sovereign 
and independent, Congress proceeded to a consideration of the 
Declaration, and after considerable debate, and the striking out 
of some passages and the alteration of others, it was finally 
agreed to by the House, and signed on the evening of the fourth 
by all the members present, except Mr. Dickinson. 

The life of Thomas Jefferson would scarcely seem complete 
without embracing Avithin it the publication of the Declaration 
of Independence. We therefore present it as originally 
reported by him, together with the alterations of Congress. 
The parts struck out by Congress are printed in italics and 



86 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



inclosed in brackets, and the parts added are placed in the 
margin, or in a concurrent column : 

A Declaration by the Eepresentatives of the United States of 
America in [General] Congress assembled: 

When in the course of human events it becomes neces- 
sary for one people to dissolve the political bands which 
have connected them with another, and to assume among 
the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to 
which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, 
a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that 
they should declare the causes which impel them to the 
separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are 
created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator 

certain with [inherent and] inalienable rights; that among 
these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to 
secure these rights, governments are instituted among 
men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the 
governed. That whenever any form of government be- 
comes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people 
to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, 
laying its foundations on such principles, and organizing 
its powers in such form as to them shall seem mos: likely 
to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, 
will dictate that governments long established should not 
be changed for light and transient causes; and accord- 
ingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more 
disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right 
themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are 
accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpa- 
tions [begun at a distinguished period and] pursuing 
invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce 
them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their 
duty to throw off such government, and to provide new 
guards for their future security. Such has been the patient 
sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity 
alter which constrains them to [expunge] their former systems 

of government. The history of the present King of Great 

repeated Britain is a history of [unremitting] injuries and usurpa- 
. tions [among which appears no solitary fact to contradict 

a avmg ^ e uniform tenor of th°, rest, but all have] in direct 
object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these 
States. To prove this let facts be submitted to a candid 
world [for the truth of which we pledge a faith yet un- 
sullied by falsehood]. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



8? 



He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome 
and necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of imme- 
diate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their 
operation till his assent should be obtained, and when so 
suspended he has utterly neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation 
of large districts of people, unless those people would 
relinquish the right of representation in the Legislature, 
a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants 
only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unu- 
sual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of 
their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them 
into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly [and 
continually] for opposing with manly firmness his invasions 
on the rights of the people. 

He has refused for a loug time after such dissolutions, 
to cause others to be elected, whereby the legislative 
powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the 
people at large for their exercise, the State remaining, in 
the mean time, exposed to all dangers of invasion from 
without and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these 
States; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturali- 
zation of foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage 
their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new 
appropriations of land. 

He has [suffered] the administration of justice [totally obstructed 
to cease in some of these States,] refusing his assent to laws by 
for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made [our] judges dependent on his will alone, 
for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and pay 
ment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices [by a self- 
assumed power], and sent hither swarms of new officers to 
harass our people, and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us in time of peace, standing armies 
[and ships of war] without consent of: our legislators. 

He has affected to render the military independent of, 
and superior to, the civil power. 

He has combined with others, to subject us to a jurisdic- 
tion foreign to our constitutions and unacknowledged by 
our laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended 
legislation, for quartering large bodies of armed troops 
among us; for protecting them by a mock trial from pun* 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



ishment for any murders -which they should commit on 
the inhabitants of these States; for cutting off our trade 
with all parts of the world ; for imposing taxes on us with- 
in many cases out our consent; for depriving us [ J of the benefits of trial 
by jury; for transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for 
pretended offenses; for abolishing the free system of Eng- 
lish laws, in a neighboring province ; establishing therein 
an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so 
as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for 
colonies introducing the same absolute rule into these [States] ; for 
taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable 
laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our govern- 
ments ; for suspending our own legislatures, and declaring 
themselves invested with power to legislate for us, in all 
cases whatsoever. 

by declaring us He has abdicated government here [withdrawing his 

out of his protec- governors, and declaring us out of his allegiance and pro- 

tion and waging 

war against us. ivcuun,}. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt 
our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign 
mercenaries, to complete the works of death, desolation 
and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty 
scarcely parallel- an d perfidy, [ ] unworthy the head of a civilized nation, 
ed in the most He has constrained our fellow-citizens taken captive on 
andtoteJlv &SQS ' tne ni S n seas > to bear arms against their country, to become 
the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall 
themselves by their hands, 
excited domestic He has [ ] endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our 
insurrecti ons frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule 
among us,and has of war f are ^ an undisguised destruction of all ages, sexes 
and conditions [of existence.] 

[Be has incited treasonable insurrections of our fellow- 
citizens, with the allurements of forfeiture, and confisca- 
tion of our property. 

He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, vio- 
lating its most sacred rights of lifeand liberty, in the persons 
of a distant people . who never offended him, captivating 
and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or 
to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. 
This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is 
the warfare of the Christian King of Great Britain. 
Determined to keep open a market, where men should be 
bought and sold, he has prostituted his negative for sup- 
pressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain 
this execrable commerce. And that this assemblage of 
horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



89 



exciting these very people to rise in arms among us, and 
to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, 
by murdering the people on whom he also obtruded them; 
thus paying off former crimes committed against the 
liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to 
commit against the lives of another.} 

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned 
for redress, in the most humble terms; our repeated peti- 
tions have been answered only by repeated injuries. 

A prince whose character is thus marked by every act 
which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a [ ] f re e 
people [who mean to be free. Future ages will scarcely 
believe, that the hardiness of one man adventured, within 
the short compass of twelve years only, to lay a foundation 
so broad and so undisguised for tyranny, over a people 
fostered and fixed in principles of freedom.] 

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British 
brethren. We have warned them from time to time of 
attempts by their legislature, to extend [a] jurisdiction an unwarrantable 
over [these our States.] We have reminded them of the us. 
circumstances of our emigration and settlement here [no one 
of which could warrant so strange a pretension, that these 
were effected at the expense of our own blood and treasure, 
unassisted by the wealth or the strength of Great Britain; 
that in constituting indeed our several forms of govern- 
ment, we had adopted one common king, thereby laying a 
foundation for perpetual league and amity with them, but 
that submission to their Parliament was no part of our 
constitution, nor ever in idea, if history may be credited, 
and] we f ] appealed to their native justice and magna- have 
nimity, [as well as to] the ties of our common kindred to and we have con- 
disavow these usurpations which [ivere likely to] interrupt J ure( i them by 
our connection and correspondence. They too have been w 011 ^ inevitably 
deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity [and when 
occasions have been given them, by the regular course of 
their laws, of removing from their councils the disturbers 
of our harmony, they have, by their free election, re- 
established them in power. At this very time, too, they 
are permitting their Chief Magistrate to send over not 
only soldiers of our common blood, but Scotch and foreign 
mercenaries, to invade and destroy us. These facts have 
given the last stab to agonizing affection, and manly spirit 
bids us to renounce forever these unfeeling brethren. We 
must endeavor to forget our former love for them, and 
hold them as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, 
in peace friends. We might have been a free and a great 
people together, but a communication of grandeur and of 



90 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



We must there- freedom, it seems, is below their dignity . Be it so, since 
f° re they will have it. The road to happiness and to glory is 

open to us too. We will tread it apart from them, and] 
acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our [eternal] 
and hold them as separation [ ] ! 
we hold the rest 
of mankind, ene- 
mies in war, in 
peace friends. 



We therefore, the representatyves 
of the United States cf America, in 
general Congress assembled, do in 
the name, and by the authority of 
the good people of these {States re- 
ject and denounce all allegiance and 
subjection to the Kings of Great 
Britain, and all others, who may 
hereafter claim by, through, or under 
them; we utterly dissolve allpolitical 
connexion which may heretofore have 
subsisted between us and the people 
or Parliament of Great Britain; and 
finally we do assert and declare these 
colonies to be free and independent 
States] and that as free and inde- 
pendent States they have full power 
to levy war, conclude peace, contract 
alliances, establish commerce, and 
to do ail other acts and things which 
independent States may of right do. 
And for the support of thn declara- 
tion we mutually pledge to each other 
our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred 
honor. 



We therefore, the representatives 
of the United States of America in 
general Congress assembled, appeal- 
ing to the Supreme Judge of the 
world for the rectitude of our inten- 
tions, do in the name, and by the 
authority of the good people of these 
colonies, solemnly publish and de- 
clare, that these united colonies are, 
and of right ought to be, free and in- 
dependent States; that they are ab- 
solved from all allegiance to the 
British Crown, and that all political 
connexion between them and the 
State of Great Britain is, and ought 
to be, totally dissolved; and that, as 
free and independent States, they 
have full power to levy war, conclude 
peace, contract alliances, establish 
commerce, and to do all other acts 
and things which independent States 
may of right do. 

And for the support of this decla- 
ration, with a firm reliance on the 
protection of Divine Providence, we 
mutually pledge to each other our 
lives, our fortunes, and our sacred 
honor. 



Mr. Jefferson, as an active member of the second Congress, 
was appointed, together with Dr. Franklin and Silas Deane, a 
commissioner to the Conrt of France, to negotiate treaties of 
alliance and commerce with that nation. This important posi- 
tion his health and cares of a private nature compelled him to 
decline. Virginia had, during the year 1776, notwithstanding 
her active co-operation with Congress, also been engaged in 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



91 



forming a State Constitution and plan of government for her- 
self, and Mr. Jefferson, feeing that our national affairs were 



FAC-SIMILE OP THE SIGNATURES TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

under the guidance of bold hearts and strong hands, and think- 
ing that his native State was in need of his services, resigned 
his seat to which he had been elected in the third Congress, in 



92 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS . 



September, 1776, and accepted a seat in the State Legislature in 
the following month. 

At an early period in this session Mr. Jefferson was appointed, 
with Edmund Pendleton, George Mason, Thomas L. Lee and 
George Wythe, on a committee to revise the laws of the State. 
This work being divided between Mr. Jefferson and two other 
members, they reported in June, 1779, a code of laws comprised 
in the compass of one hundred and twenty-six bills, of which a 
few were passed at each Legislature until the last of them was 
enacted about the year 1785. 

It must not be supposed because Mr. Jefferson retired from 
Congress that his public service was light. On the other hand, 
it was so extensive and laborious that time would not admit of 
giving an adequate idea of his great services to his State. Many 
persons not familiar with the real motives of Mr. Jefferson, have 
thought him an innovator, desirous of destroying old laws and 
customs. In this respect he was guided purely by a desire to 
adopt everything advantageous to the existing state of affairs 
and the more practical wants of human nature. He did not 
believe in carrying a bag of corn to mill balanced with a stone in 
the other end of the bag because his fathers had done so, when 
half the corn in each end would balance it with less weight 
and more good sense, and whatever changes he made in the 
laws of Virginia were of the most beneficial nature. His aim 
was to strike out from our laws all those aristocratic features, 
such as the law of converting estates entail, the right of primo- 
geniture, and all such feudal and unnatural distinctions. Mr. 
Jefferson's ideas were to adapt our laws to a republican form of 
government. He also stood firm for establishing the freedom 
of religious opinion, and that kind of an innovator was most 
invaluable to his State and the entire country. 

In June, 1779, Mr. Jefferson was elected successor to Mr. 
Henry as Governor of Virginia, a situation of peculiar difficulty 
to one so entirely unused to military matters ; but he -rose equal 
to the emergency, and proved his excellent capacity in pro- 
tecting the State from the attacks on the seaboard by the infa- 
mous traitor Arnold, and by Tarlton and Cornwallis on the 
southern border. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



9o 



In 1781 he proved his regard for the welfare of his State by 
advising that a military man should become Governor, and he 
was succeeded by General Nelson. Just at this time, and only 
two days after his retirement from the office, he barely escaped 
being taken prisoner by Tarlton, who had been dispatched by 
Cornwallis to Charlottesville to capture the Governor and mem- 
bers of the Assembly, but they were notified of the approach in 
time to escape, Mr. Jefferson actually fleeing from Monticello 
on his horse on one side of the estate as the enemy dashed up 
the hill on the opposite side. 

After Mr. Jefferson's retirement from office, it was urged by 
some over-officious members of the Legislature that he had been 
negligent in adopting measures for the defense of the seaboard 
at the time of Arnold's descent upon Richmond, and they moved 
for an investigation of his conduct. To this Mr. Jefferson will- 
ingly assented, but before it took place the instigators, convinced 
of the groundlessness of the complaint, declined to prosecute 
the investigation. 

Soon after this Mr. Jefferson found time to assist M. de Mar- 
bois, Secretary of the French Legation, in obtaining useful sta- 
tistical information concerning the American States, and Mr. 
Jefferson, in answer to inquiries concerning Virginia, replied at 
great length in a most interesting statement as to the natural 
history, the soil, productions, institutions and statistics of his 
native State. This work was afterward published by him under 
the title of ' ' Notes on Virginia. " 

Mr. Jefferson's talents, however, were of too high an order at 
that critical time in our history to be spared from his country's 
service, and in 1781 he had been appointed a Minister Plenipo- 
tentiary, together with Mr. Adams, Mr. Jay, Mr. Laurens and 
Dr. Franklin, for negotiations of peace, which were then expected 
to take place. His health preventing his acceptance at that 
time, he was again appointed in 1782, and made preparations to 
go, but news of the signing of preliminaries of peace made it 
unnecessary. 

In 1783 and 1784 Mr. Jefferson was again elected to Congress, 
and was appoin ted chairman of the Committee upon the State 
of the Treasury, and also of the committe e to act on the definite 



(14 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS, 



treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States. 
This treaty was ratified by Congress on January 14, 1784. 
Congress then, in the same year, on the 7th of May, appointed 
Mr. Jefferson, together with Mr. Adams and Dr. Franklin, who 
were then in Europe, a Minister Plenipotentiary for the forma- 
tion of treaties of commerce with foreign nations, and in the 
following July he embarked with his eldest daughter at Boston, 
arriving in Paris on the 6th of August, where he was joined by 
Mr. Adams and Dr. Franklin. Both this and subsequent at- 
tempts of the commissioners to form commercial treaties were 
discouragingly unsuccessful, owing to the indifference or oppo- 
sition of foreign powers, Prussia and Morocco being the only 
powers with whom treaties were secured. In 1786 Mr. Jefferson 
accompanied Mr. Adams to England, in hope of effecting a 
treaty of commerce with that country, but the mission being a 
fruitless one, Mr. Jefferson returned to Paris, after an absence 
of seven weeks. 

Mr. Jefferson resided as our Minister at Paris over five years, 
and during that time he accomplished much as the representa- 
tive of a new country at a foreign court, although his diplomatic 
duties, by comparison with his eventful labors during our strug- 
gle for independence, would appear dull and uninteresting. But 
it was to him a period of great pleasure in his life, associated as 
he was with the highest circle of refinement and intelligence in 
Paris. Unlike Mr. Adams, he admired the French people, and 
in time was a favorite of theirs, as was also Dr. Franklin, to 
whom they looked up with almost veneration. He wrote en- 
thusiastically in his letters of France, and the warmth and 
friendship of her people, and of their hospitality, politeness of 
manners, ease of conversation and eminence in science. 

Yet, notwithstanding his love for France and its society, 
America Siili held the high and lofty place in his heart, and he 
sighed for the retirement of Monticello. In a letter to the 
Baron Geismer, dated at Paris, September 6, 1785, he says : 

" The character in which I am here at present confines me to this place, 
and will confine me as long as I continue in Europe. How long this will be I 
cannot tell. I am now of an age which does not easily accommodate itself 
to new manners and new modes of living, and 1 am savage enough to prefer 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



95 



the woods, the wilds and the independence of Monticello to all the brilliant 
pleasures of this gay capital. I shall, therefore, rejoin myself to my native 
country with new attachments and with exaggerated esteem for its advan- 
tages; for, though theie is less wealth there, there is more freedom, more 
ease and less misery." 

Mr. Jefferson, during his residence in Europe, was making 
interested comparisons between the general condition of the 
French people and that of his own countrymen. His sentiments 
and the result of his observations are thus expressed in a letter 
to Mr. Bellini, dated Paris, 1785 : 

u Behold me at last on the vaunted scene of Europe ! It is not necessary for 
your information that I should enter into details concerning it. But you are 
perhaps curious to know how this new scene has struck a savage of the 
mountains of America. Not advantageously, I assure you. I find the general 
fate of humanity here most deplorable. The truth of Voltaire's observations 
offers itself perpetually, that every man here must be either the hammer or 
the anvil. While the great mass of the people are thus suffering under phys- 
ical and moral oppression, I have endeavored to examine more nearly the 
condition of the great, to appreciate the true value of the circumstances in 
their situation, which dazzle the bulk of spectators, and especially, to com- 
pare it with that degree of happiness which is enjoyed in America by every 
class of people. Intrigues of love occupy the younger, and those of ambi- 
tion the elder part of the great, conjugal love having no existence among 
them ; domestic happiness, of which that is the basis, is utterly unknown. 

"In lieu of this are substituted pursuits which nourish and invigorate all 
our bad passions, and which offer only moments of ecstacy amidst days and 
months of restlessness and torment ; much, very much inferior, this, to the 
tranquil, permanent f elicity, with which domestic society in America blesses 
most of its inhabitants, leaving them to follow steadily those pursuits which 
health and reason approve, and rendering truly delicious the intervals of 
these pursuits. 

" In science the mass of people are two centuries behind ours ; their 
literati, half a dozen years before us. With respect to what are termed 
polite manners, without sacrificing too much the sincerity of language, I 
would wish my countrymen to adopt just so much of European politeness 
as to be ready to make all those little sacrifices of self which really render 
European manners amiable, and relieve society from the disagreeable 
scenes to which rudeness often subjects it. Here it seems a man might pass 
a life without encountering a single rudeness. In the pleasures of the table 
they are far before us, because with good taste they unite temperance. They 
do not terminate the most sociable meals by transforming themselves into 
brutes; I have never yet seen a man drunk in France, even among the lowest 
of the people. Were I to proceed to tell you how much I enjoy their archi- 
tecture, sculpture, painting and music, I should want words. It is in these 



96 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS, 



acts they shine. The last of them particularly is an enjoyment the depriva- 
tion of which with us cannot be calculated. I am almost ready to say it is 
the only thing which from my heart I envy them, and which, in spite of all 
the authority of the decalogue, I do covet." 

In another letter to Mr. "Wythe, dated Paris, August, 1786, 
when speaking of the revision of the law in which the Assem- 
bly of Virginia had been engaged, he writes : 

" I think by far the most important bill in our whole code, is that for the 
diffusion of knowledge among the people. No other foundation can be de- 
vised for the preservation of freedom and happiness If anybody thinks 
that kings, nobles or priests are good conservators of the public happiness, 
send him here. It is the best school in the universe to cure him of that folly. 
He will see here with hi 5 own eyes that these descriptions of men are 
an abandoned confederacy against the happiness of the mass of the people. 
The omnipotence of their effect cannot be better proved than in this coun- 
try, particularly where notwithstanding the finest soil upon earth, the finest 
climate under heaven, and a people of the most benevolent, the most gay 
and amiable character of which the human form is susceptible ; where such 
a people, I say, surrounied by so many blessings from nature, are loaded 
with misery by kings, nobles and priests, and by them alone. Preach, my 
dear sir, a crusade against ignorance ; establish and improve the law for 
educating the common people. Let our countrymen know that the people 
alone can protect us against these evils, and that the tax which will be paid 
for this purpose, is not more than the thousandth part of what will be paid 
to kings, nobles and priests, who will rise up among us if we leave the 
people in ignoraace." 

Mr. Jefferson was so closely confined to his official duties 
while in Paris that he seldom had any opportunity for visiting 
other parts of the continent. He passed seven weeks in London 
with Mr. Adams, in the vain hope of securing a commercial 
treaty. He also went to the Hague at a later period to meet 
Mr. Adams and assist in negotiating a loan, and returned along 
the banks of the Ehine, and in 1787, while suffering from the 
effects of a dislocated wrist, he took the opportunity of visiting 
the southern provinces of France and northern part of Italy. 

In October, 1789, Mr. Jefferson having obtained from the 
government the permission he had long solicited to return home 
for a short time, embarked at Havre for the United States. It 
was not at that time his intention to resign his position as Min- 
ister at the Court of Versailles. His long residence in France 
had made for him many ties of friendship. The spirit of free- 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



dom and revolution which had aroused our people to secure for 
themselves independent nationality was also spreading among 
the different classes of France, and Mr. Jefferson watched with 
the deepest interest the rapidly approaching contest between 
the people and the throne, and the struggle between liberty and 
long-established oppression was to him one of peculiar solici- 
tude, desirous, as he must have been, to see the rights and 
principles for which he had so successfully contended in 
America transplanted and flourishing in the soil of Europe. All 
these things conspired to confirm his intention to return and 
resume his office after a short visit to his native country. 
He arrived at Norfolk in the latter part of November, where 
he found a letter awaiting him from General Washington, 
containing an appointment to the Cabinet as Secretary 
of State. In reply, Mr. Jefferson stated his desire to re- 
turn to France, but true to patriotic sentiments, he assured the 
President that he would willingly remain if his services to his 
country were counted more valuable at home than abroad. In 
reply to this President Washington sent him a second letter, 
expressing his desire to have Mr. Jefferson accept the position, 
but giving him his choice of the two situations. This desire of 
the President's induced him to forego his own preference and 
accept the appointment. To Mr. Jefferson's agreeable surprise 
he found that during his long absence great changes had taken 
place in the United States. When he departed five years before 
the country was just emerging from the great struggle which 
had secured our glorious independence, at the same time 
that it had impoverished the people, and the imperfect form of 
government existing at that time endangered the internal peace 
of the country. Now, he beheld a wonderful transformation ; 
the country was happy, prosperous and rapidly increasing in 
wealth and population. The Federal Constitution had been 
adopted, the national government organized under its wise pro- 
visions, and at its head had been placed the hero who had so 
successfully led her armies to victory, a,nd he who had been 
" first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his coun- 
trymen," was proving himself as wise in counsel as he had been 
valorous and successful in war. 



98 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Mr. Jefferson entered at once upon the duties of the high and 
important position to which he had been appointed, and in 
accordance with his fine abilities and peculiar fitness for the 
office he discharged the duties. These duties were of an 
arduous and responsible nature, and having no precedents to 
govern in the administration, they were difficult to perform, 
embracing the superintendence both of domestic affairs and 
foreign relations. For the duties of the latter, however, Mr. 
Jefferson was eminently qualified by his former diplomatic 
experience, and it was so conducted that the rights and inter- 
ests of our citizens were protected, and the honor and dignity of 
the nation supported without any infringment of the rights of 
others ; while in the Home Department abundant proof of his 
talents and industry exists to-day in the numerous reports and 
state papers on subjects of the highest importance, which from 
time to time he laid before Congress. 

It was but natural that party spirit which never slumbers 
long in any human government, and perhaps least of aD in a 
republic, should have risen in our country, and Mr. Jefferson, 
at the close of the year 1793, finding himself differing in views 
from a majority of the administration, to which he was officially 
attached, and these views every day widening the breach 
between them, he honestly considered that he could not con- 
sistently act with them in the measures which they as a 
majority would adopt, and therefore he retired from the office 
of Secretary of State. At this time the whole body of the 
people, from the first statesman in the cabinet down to the 
merest village alehouse politician, were ranged under the banners 
of one or the other of the contending parties. To that one of 
these parties known by the name of Democratic, Mr. Jefferson 
found himself drawn by the whole course of his previous habits 
and opinions. The other members of the cabinet, however, 
were attached to the other party, and Mr. Jefferson, therefore, 
felt himself called upon to withdraw, and in withdrawing he 
for a time retired from public life and devoted himself to the 
cultivation and improvement of his estate and followed those 
literary and scientific pursuits which were most congenial to 
his tastes. It was during this time, for a few years at Monticello, 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



99 



surrounded by his family, that he doubtless enjoyed the greatest 
domestic happiness and quiet of any period of his life. About 
the time of his retirement he was chosen President of the 
American Philosophical Society, as successor to Rittenhouse, 
and for the long period he filled the chair was active 
in promoting in every way in his power the prosperity of the 
institution. But it was not in the nature of things that so 
prominent and talented a citizen and so eminent a statesman as 
Mr. Jefferson should be allowed to remain in private life. The 
Farewell Address of General Washington in 1796 conveyed to 
the people, whose affections he so firmly held, the information 
of his determination to retire to private life. This at once 
afforded the two parties, in which the people had arrayed them- 
selves, an opportunity to bring their candidates in the field. 
Mr. Adams was nominated by one and Mr. Jefferson by the 
other, and at the election, which took place in the fall, after 
the first heated national campaign in our history, Mr. 
Adams was chosen President and Mr. Jefferson Vice- 
President for the term of four years. The duties of the 
Vice-President being merely to preside over the Senate, 
save in case of the death of the President, Mr, Jefferson had 
the opportunity of spending much of his time at Monticello. 
His party, however, was growing stronger during the four 
years, and in 1801, having again been nominated as a candidate 
in opposition to Mr. Adams, he received a majority of the votes 
of the people. But as the number of votes given for Mr. Jeffer- 
son and for Mr. Burr, who was the Democratic nominee for 
Vice-President, were equal, and the Constitution, through 
lack of suitable amendment, did not require that the votes 
should specify the office to which each was respectively elected, 
and neither having a majority, which was necessary to a 
choice, the election devolved upon the House of Representa- 
tives. Here the opponents of Mr. Jefferson cast their votes for 
Mr. Burr, and it was not till after thirty-five unsuccessful 
ballots that Mr. Jefferson was elected President and Mr. Burr 
selected as Vice-President. 

On March 4, 1801, Mr. Jeff erson took the oath of office and de- 
livered his inaugural address, from which we take the following : 



100 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



" Let us then, fellow citizens, unite with one heart and one mind; let us re- 
store to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty 
and even life itself are but dreary things. AJid let us reflect that having ban- 
ished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long 
bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intoler- 
ance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions. 
During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the agoniz- 
ing spasms of infuriated man seeking through blood and slaughter his long- 
lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should 
reach even this distant and peaceful shore; that this should be more felt and 
feared by some and less by others, and should divide opinions as to meas- 
ures of safety, but every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. 
We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are 
al: republicans; we are all federalists. If there be any among us who would 
wish to dissolve this union, or to change its republican form, let them stand 
undistiu'bed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be 
tolerated, where reason is left free to combat it. I know, indeed, that some 
honest men fear that a republican government can not be strong, that this 
government is not strong enough. But would the honest patriot in the full 
tide of successful experiment abandon a government which has so far kept us 
free and firm, on the theoretic and visionary fear that this government, the 
world'sbest hope, may, by possibility, want energy to preserve itself ? I trust 
not. I believe this, on the contrary, the stronge?t government on earth. I 
believe it the only one where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to 
the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his 
own personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with 
the government of himself. Can he then be trusted with the government of 
others ? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him ? Let 
history answer this question." 

He thon proceeds to give in the following summary manner 
a brief statement of the principles which were to be the rule 
of his administration : 

" About to enter, fellow -citizens, on the exercise of duties which compre- 
hend every thing dear and valuable to you, it is proper you should under- 
stand what I deem the essential principles of our government, and 
consequently those which ought to shape its administration. I will com- 
press them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general 
principle, but not all its limi nations. Equal and exact justice to all men of 
whatever state or persuasion, religious or political ; peace, commerce and 
honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the sup- 
port of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent 
administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against 
anti-republican tendencies ; the preservation of the general government in 
its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home 
and safety abroad; a jealous care of the rights of election by the 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



101 



people, a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are ]opped by the sword 
of revolution, where peaceable remedies are unprovided ; absolute acqui- 
escence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics 
from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate 
parent of despotism ; a well-disciplined militia our best reliance in peace 
and for the first moments of war till regulars may lelieve them ; the 
supremacy of the civil over the military authority ; economy in the public 
expense, that labor may be lightly burdened ; the honest payment of our 
debts and sacred preservation of the public faith ; encouragement of agri- 
culture and of commerce as its handmaid ;-the diffusion of information and 
arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason ; freedom of re- 
ligion, freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the proteeticn 
of the habeas corpus and trials by juries impartially selected. These prin- 
ciples form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided 
our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our 
sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment, they 
should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the 
touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust ; and should we 
wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace 
our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty and 
safety." 

From the election of Mr. Adams dates the first ascendancy 
into power of the Democratic party in the national councils of 
the country, and the acts of Mr. Jefferson's administration 
were so far approved that at the expiration of his first term in 
1805 he was re-elected to the Chief Magistracy by a large 
majority, notwithstanding all the exertions of the Federal 1 
party. Mr. Jefferson was undoubtedly a wise man, although in 
the excitement of partisanship his opponents believed many of 
his acts injurious to the welfare of the country. His purchase 
of Louisiana and the annexation of that fertile country to the 
United States, thereby securing the undisputed navigation of 
the Mississippi, was of the most incalculable benefit to the 
country. On the other hand, the embargo of 1807 was most 
warmly supported by his friends and mo?t violently opposed by 
his enemies. This was necessitated by the continued and un- 
warranted aggressions of the two great belligerent powers of 
Europe, England and France, upon the neutral commerce of 
the country after negotiation and remonstrance had been tried 
in vain, and it was evident that stronger measures for our pro- 
tection were necessary, and President Jefferson called the atten- 



102 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



tion of Congress, in December, 1805, to the many aggressions 
and injuries by the impressment of our seamen and numerous 
depredations on our coast, alluding to this grave subject in the 
following terms : 

" Our coasts have been infested and our harbors watched by private 
armed vessels, some of them without commissions, some with illegal com- 
missions, others with those of legal form, but committing piratical acts 
beyond the authority of their commissions. They have captured in the 
very entrance of our harbors, as well as on the high seas, not only the 
vessels of our friends coming to trade with us, but our own also. They have 
carried them off under pretence of adjudication, but not daring to approach 
a court of justice, they have plundered and sunk them by the way, or in 
obscure places where do evidence could arise against them, maltreated the 
crews and abandoned them in boats in. the open sea or on desert shores 
without food or covering. The same system of hovering on our coasts and 
harbors under color of seeking enemies has also been carried on by public 
armed ships to the great annoyance and oppression of our commerce. New 
principles too have been interpolated into the law of nations, founded 
neither in justice nor the usage or acknowledgment of nations. Accord- 
ing to these a belligerent takes to itself a commerce with its own enemy 
which it denies to a neutral on the ground of its aiding that enemy in the 
war. But reason revolts at such an inconsistency; and the neutral having 
equal rights with the belligerents to decide the question, the interests of 
our constituents and the duty of maintaining the authority of reason, the 
only umpire between just nations, impose on us the obligation of providing 
an effectual and determined opposition to a doctrine so injurious to the 
" rights of peaceable nations." 

These suggestions by the Executive stirred Congress to make 
preparations for the defense of our coast in case of a war, and 
the non-importation act passed in 1806, and commissioners were 
also appointed to adjust the existing difficulties and prevent the 
recurrence of the causes. 

During the pending of these negotiations the outrage by the 
British frigate Leopard upon the frigate Chesapeake in our very 
waters caused the President to issue a proclamation on the 2d 
of July, 1807, requiring all British armed vessels then within 
the waters of the United States to depart, and forbidding them 
to enter. A disavowal and offers of reparation for the injury 
and insult to the Chesapeake was made, but almost immediately 
the British Orders in Council appeared, by which the British 
Government prohibited all commerce between the United States 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



103 



and the ports of British foes in Europe, unless the articles had 
been first landed in England, and the duties paid for their re- 
exportation. This called for decided measures at once on the 
part of our Government, but Mr. Jefferson believed that our 
country was not then in a situation to hazard a war, and that 
the only means left to prevent the destruction of our commerce 
was to keep them in port and deprive the belligerents of the 
benefits of our commerce. In execution of this policy Congress 
passed an act on December 22, 1807, laying an embargo on our 
^vessels and prohibiting their departure from any port of the 
United States. 

Mr. Jefferson's second administration was also disturbed by 
an unexpected domestic difficulty, which was no less than 
the infamous conspiracy of Aaron Burr. Rendered sullen and 
vicious by his defeat for the Vice-Presidency, and moved and 
actuated by an unprincipled ambition, this man, under the pre- 
text of forming a military expedition against the Spanish ter- 
ritories on our southwestern border, organized a body of armed 
men for the purpose, as generally supposed, of bringing about 
a separation of the States west of the Alleghenies from the 
general government, to form them into an independent State. 
The government being apprised that bodies of men were organ- 
izing and arming ostensibly for making war upon a power 
with whom we were at peace, Congress at once took steps to 
seize their arms and stores and arrest the ringleaders. On the 
discovery of the plan Burr fled, but was soon captured and 
taken to Richmond, Virginia, under arrest, where he was tried 
for a high misdemeanor, and also on a charge of treason, but 
unfortunately, for want of evidence, was aquitted. 

In 1809, Mr. Jefferson's second term of office having expired, 
he determined upon retiring forever from political life. For 
nearly forty years he had devoted his energies to the service 
of his country, and he felt that natural desire for rest and 
retirement to the shades of domestic life which declining years 
require. With this earnest wish for the sweet peace of Monti- 
cello, he departed for his home in March, 1809, and from that 
time took no further part in politics, passing his declining years 
overlooking the cultivation of his estate, devoting hours to 



104 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



study and extending a gracious hospitality to his friends. He 
also became much interested in the establishment of a system of 
general education in Virginia, and in the superintendence of the 
new university of that State, whch he labored to found in 1818. 
This institution was located ac Charlottesville, in which town 
the estate of Monticello was situated, and Mr. Jefferson was 
chosen director at its foundation, in which office he continued 
during the remainder of his life. 

The last years of his life were disturbed by financial embar- 
rassment, which necessitated the disposal of his estate at Monti- 
cello, to prevent its being sacrificed and in order to raise money 
to pay his debts, which will forever remain as an evidence of 
the most eminent public services being repaid by indifference 
to the comfort of his declining years. But the day was fast ap- 
proaching when his earthy wants were to cease. 

That day was ushered in with the fiftieth anniversary of the 
Declaration of Independence, on the 4th of July, 1826. Great 
preparations were being made to celebrate it as the completion 
of the half century of our free national existence, and the 
citizens of Washington, to add to the great occasion, invited 
Mr. Jefferson, as one of the few surviving signers of the Declara- 
tion, to participate in the celebration. A serious and increas- 
ing illness pre vented him from accepting the invitation, and 
his reply, on the 24th of June, gave evidence that although his 
earthly frame was fast perishing, his mind was still animated 
with the same ardent love of liberty. Eegretting his inability ( 
to be present, he expressed how greatly he should have delighted 
in meeting and exchanging congratulations with the small 
band, that remnant of the host of worthies who joined with 
him on that doubtful day, and decided for their country be- 
twi en submission and the sword, and to have enjoyed with 
them the consolation that after a half century of experience 
and prosperity their fellow-citizens were glorifying the anni- 
versary as a sacred day in our national existence. 

The letter was full of the noblest sentiment, such as had ever 
emanated from his pen, and it had scarcely been written before 
his illness had rapidly increased, and on the 26th he was 
obliged to confine himself to his bed. On the 2d of July his 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



105 



condition was such that his physicians entertained no hope of 
his recovery, and he also was sensible that his last hour had 
come, and with the most perfect calmness he conversed with 
his family and gave directions concerning his funeral, being 
desirous that his last resting-place on earth should be Monticello. 




TOMB OF JEFFERSON. 



Gradually he was sinking, and on Monday he inquired the day 
of the month. Being told that it was the 3d of July, he 
expressed the earnest wish that he might live to see the day of 
the fiftieth anniversary ushered in. His prayer was heard ; that 
day whose dawn was hailed with such rapture throughout our 
land burst upon his eyes, and then they were closed forever. 
And what a noble consummation of a noble life ! To die on 



106 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



that day, the birthday of a nation, the day which his own name 
and his own act had rendered glorious ; to die amid the rejoic- 
ings and festivities of a whole nation who looked up to him as 
the author, under God, of their greatest blessings, was all that 
was wanted to fill up the record of his life. Fifty summers 
had rolled over his head since the day when the Congress of 
1776 declared America independent, and on that day, amid the 
acclamations of twelve millions of freemen, in the hour within 
which fifty years before he had signed the Magna Charta of 
American freedom, his spirit was freed from the bondage of 
earth, and almost at the same hour the kindred spirit of the 
memorable Adams, as if to bear him company, left the scene of 
his earthly honors. 

Mr. Jefferson had attained a venerable old age at his death, 
being eighty-three years and some months. It will here be of 
interest to give some particulars as to his family. In January, 
1772, he married Mrs. Martha Skelton, widow of Bathurst 
Skelton, and daughter of John Way]es, a prominent lawyer of 
the colonial times. This union was not of long duration, as she 
died in 1782, leaving three daughters, one of whom died young ; 
the others were married, one to Thomas M. Randolph, after- 
ward Governor of Virginia, the other io Mr. Eppes. 

Mr. Jefferson was tall, being over sir. feet in height, and thin 
but well formed. His eyes were light, and his hair, which was 
red in early life, became silvery white in old age. He was fair 
in complexion, with broad forehead, and his whole counte- 
nance beamed with intelligence and thoughtful hess. In him 
the elements of self-control were great. Possessing great forti- 
tude, as well as personal courage, his command of temper was 
such that his most intimate friends had never seen him in a 
passion. He was also possessed of simplicity of manners, 
although coupled with easy dignity. He was fluent and 
eloquent in conversation, and remarkably precise and correct 
in his language. As a classical scholar his writings were after 
the best models of antiquity, and he never endeavored to con- 
vince by the mere force of argument. Several of his works 
have been previously mentioned, but they are altogether so 
numerous, including state papers, etc., that the archives of 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



107 



the government alone can give the reader a definite knowledge 
of them. 

In reference to the religious opinions of Mr. Jefferson, which 
naturally were the subject of political prejudice, we could not 
perhaps speak in particular terms of approbation should we 
enter upon a full consideration of them. As a mere moralist 
he must ever be esteemed for opinions and doctrines which 
would have done honor to the purest sages of Greece and Eome, 
and which certainly far surpassed the theory and practice of 
his masters in religion, the skeptics of the French school. 

Mr. Jefferson's whole life was so nearly passed before the 
public that his actions speak his character better than words 
can express them, and whatever his faults may have been, if 
he had them, he will be cherished and held in grateful memory 
as one of the bold and fearless patriots of the Revolution and as 
theframer and a signer of the immortal Declaration of American 
Independence. If public sentiment may be divided concerning 
the wisdom and expediency of his measures while he occupied 
the Presidential chair, there can be no divided sentiment in the 
minds of his grateful countrymen when they consider him as 
one of the Congress of 1776, as one of the firmest opposers of 
British aggressions, as one of the most able statesmen of the 
Revolution. In all these things his conduct has been stamped 
by the approbation of a whole nation, and a judgment rendered 
that no future age will ever reverse. 



JAMES MADISON. 



After reading the biographies of three such men as "Washing- 
ton, Adams and Jefferson, the lives of other eminent men of 
our country may not appear as brilliant by comparison ; but it 
is evident that James Madison was also one of the conspicuous 
heroes of our early history, filling the sphere of his duties 
with honor, patriotism and devotion, and leaving behind him a 
memory cherished by his countrymen. 

Of the early life of Mr. Madison very few incidents have 
been preserved. He was born in the year 1750 at Montpelier, 
"Va., and at an early period in his life devoted his interest and 
labors to the cause of our infant republic. In reference to 
his private life, he was married, in 1794, to Mrs. Todd, in Phila- 
delphia, who was the widow of a prominent lawyer at the Phil- 
adelphia bar. Her father was a Quaker named Paine, who had 
emigrated from Virginia to Philadelphia. Being left a widow 
at the early age of twenty-one years, she was quite young when 
she became Mrs. Madison, and, being of agreeable manners 
and fascinating in conversation, she became popular in the 
circle of her associates and filled the high position to which 
she was called as the wife of the President with dignified affa- 
bility, striving to soften the political asperities of the time by 
the amenities of social life. 

At an early age Mr. Madison became prominent as an active 
member of the Continental Congress. To him, more than to 
any other, the people of the United States are indebted for 
our national Constitution. As the leader in the convention 
that framed the Federal Constitution, he was its most influen- 
tial supporter in the Virginia Convention, which adopted it. 
He was the author of the Virginia Resolution of 1798 and the 
Virginia Report of 1799, and for sixteen years was charged 



110 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



with the administration of the government, as the incumbent 
successively of the second and first offices in the executive. 

Mr. Madison, among other eminent statesman, recognized 
the weakness of our confederated form of government and the 
inability of Congress to regulate commerce fcr the States, 
form treaties or raise funds, and he made a proposition for a 
convention of delegates, which resulted in a, meeting at An- 
napolis representing five States, where it was fully realized 
that a federal government and constitution were necessary for 
all international relations, as well a^ for better management 
of affairs at home. But the jealousy of certain States occasioned 
much opposition and delay in the desirable reform in our imper- 
fect system of government. At length, however, the majority 
of the State Legislatures were brought to coincide in the views of 
the federal statesmen, and these so influenced the others that all 
but Ehode Island sent delegates to Philadelphia in 1787, at 
which convention Washington was chosen President. The 
convention deliberated with closed doors, until at length on 
the 17th of September the proposed constitution was made 
public, and after presentation to Congress was submitted to the 
several States for their acceptance. No sooner had it appeared 
than between Federalists and Democrats and individual opinion 
it was attacked with a host of objections. These discussions 
occupied' the year 1788, after which the Constitution was 
generally accepted and the grand point of a federal union 
achieved. 

The month of March, 1789, was the time appointed for the 
commencement oC the new government, and as soon as Con- 
gress met the first step was to elect a President, for which 
office George Washington was unanimously chosen, the cere- 
mony of his inauguration taking place on the 30th of April. 
I As soon as the federal government was in operation Congress 
proceeded at once to consider the most important subject, the 
revenue. In reference to this Mr. Madison proposed a tax on 
imported goods and tonnage. Some objected to the tonnage 
duty on the ground that as we had but few ships of our own, 
the duty might drive off those we would need. But Mr. Madison 
pointed out the necessity of fostering the infant navy of the 



JAMES MADISON. 



Ill 



country as the only defensive force that would be available in a 
future war. This argument overcame the objection. After 
Congress had provided for the revenue and the just debts of the 
States, the departments of the Treasury, of War and of State 
were formed, and the appointments to those departments were 
made, Mr. Madison's being the only name of eminence omitted 
in the arrangement. 

When Congress assembled in 1793 the British Government had 
declared France to be in a state of blockade by issuing orders to 
stop all neutral ships laden with provisions bound to her ports. 
In reference to this state of affairs, Mr. Madison early in 
January, 1794, submitted to the House his commercial resolu- 
tions for further restrictions and higher duties in certain cases 
on the manufactures and navigation of foreign nations. The 
last of these resolutions declared that provision ought to be 
made for ascertaining the losses sustained by American citizens, 
from the operation of particular regulations of any country con- 
travening the law of nations; and that these losses be reim- 
bursed, in the first instance, out of the additional duties on the 
manufactures and vessels of nations establishing such regula- 
tions. 

On the 4th of March, 1809, Mr. Madison, who had been Sec- 
retary of State under the preceding administration, was inau- 
gurated President of the United States. Upon this occasion, 
in accordance with the example of his predecessors, he deliv- 
ered a most able inaugural address, bearing upon our national 
condition and our domestic and international relations. 

At this time the situation of our affairs was in many respects 
gloomy. France and England were still at war and were 
directing against each other commercial edicts which were 
seriously affecting our trade and commerce. 

A new administration generally commences with fair prom- 
ises on one side and hopes on the other, of a change, and the 
English Minister hoped that with the change of administration 
and the repeal of the embargo which had just been effected, a 
favorable opportunity was offered for renewing negotiations. 
Mr. Erskine accordingly received from the English Secretary 
of State power and instructions to treat, and in consideration 



112 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



of certain concessions by tbe British Government the President 
suspended the non-intercourse act, but this was no sooner done 
than the English Government disavowed Mr. Erskine's negotia- 
tions, and Mr. Madison declared the non-intercourse act again 
in full force. These diplomatic blunders were unfortunate, aod 
led both Americans and the Parliamentary opposition to believe 
that the disavowal of Mr. Erskine was merely an act of capri- 
cious hostility on the part of the British Minister, and Mr. Jack- 
son, who was sent in his place, was received with coldness, and 
having angrily retorted to an allusion to the duplicity of the 
British Government, his recall was demanded. 

France was more friendly in reference to the edict and was 
willing to annul her decrees if England would raise her block- 
ade. Mr. Madison took advantage of this fairness on the part of 
France to secure from Congress resolutions approving the high 
and defiant tone of policy observed by him toward England, 
and preparations for war were begun. The non-intercourse 
act expiring in 1810, the Americans again insisted upon the two 
powers removing their restrictions ; a declaration of war being 
Mr. Madison's purpose if the restrictions were not removed, as 
they were equivalent to our abandonment of the sea altogether. 
To this Napoleon replied, amicably offering to suspend his 
decrees. The British Government, through stubbornness and 
from a pretended belief in the insincerity of the French 
declaration, as well as from the fact that our demand was 
accompanied by a menace, refused to repeal the order in 
council. 

This conduct strengthened the animosity against Great Brit- 
ain and resulted in admitting the vessels of France to our 
ports whilst the interdict against the English was renewed. 
The condition of affairs after this was such that Mr. Pinckney, 
our Minister, demanded his audience of leave, believing that 
his mission was hopeless. 

Soon after this an accidental collision took place between 
vessels of the respective countries tending much to widen the 
existing differences. An English sloop of war the Little Belt, 
meeting the American frigate the President on our coast, both 
simultaneously hailed each other. Without replying, both hailed 



JAMES MADISON. 



113 



again, resulting in the first shot from the Little Belt and her 
severe handling by the President, in which engagement the 
British sloop lost over thirty men while the ship suffered severely. 
This hastened preparations for war by the United States, and 
fortifications were prepared at New York and New Orleans, the 
latter point being the most vulnerable part of the country. 

In the spring of 1811 Mr. Foster was sent as plenipotentiary 
from England to make another attempt at negotiation, but as 
he had no power for stipulating the repeal of the orders in 
council, nothing resulted from his mission. 

In the November following Congress was called together, and 
President Madison addressed it fully respecting the consequences 
of the still widening difference, showing that even after the ex- 
tinction of the French decrees the orders in council of Great 
Britain had been put into more rigorous execution and fresh 
outrages had been committed on the American coasts. " With 
this evidence," said Mr. Madison, 4 'of hostile inflexibility, in 
trampling on rights which no independent nation can relinquish, 
Congress will feel the duty of putting the United States into an 
armor and an attitude demanded by the crisis and correspond- 
ing with the national spirit and expectations." This was fol- 
lowed by demands of increase in the army, the navy, and all 
military stores and establishments. 

Active preparations for early hostilities were made during 
the winter of 1811. The British Government became arrogant 
as it met with military success in the conflict with France, and 
although the able Marquis of Lansiowne in the House of Lords, 
and the eloquent Brougham, in the Commons, used their 
strongest appeals in favor of abandoning the obnoxious orders, 
still nothing satisfactory could be accomplished. Finding 
that all our efforts for a peaceful settlement were in vain, the 
President sent a message to Congress, calling attention to all 
the causes of complaint against England, including the stirring 
up of the Indians on the Wabash River, and a formal declara- 
tion of war was recommended, and although the Federals were 
opposed to the extreme measure, war was declared against 
Great Britain on the 18th day of June, 1812. Massachusetts, 
and especially Boston, was most adverse to hostilities with 



114 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Great Britain, while the Southern States were strongly favor- 
able to the war. 

The war opened by skirmishes in Canada and on the Ameri- 
can border. When hostilities commenced, General Hull, Gov- 
ernor of Michigan Territory, collected over two thousand troops, 
and invaded Canada with the intention of attacking Montreal, 
but learning that the Indians had invaded his territory in the 
rear, and that General Brock was in his front with a consider- 
able force, he retreated to Fort Detroit, where Brock besieged 
him, and Hull, hoisting the white flag, surrendered the fort and 
army without firing a gun. In about a month after, another 
American army was collected upon the same position, and 
Queenstown, on the Niagara, was selected as the point of 
attack. An American division under Colonel Van Rensse- 
laer crossed with the expectation of capturing the place. It 
was gallantly stormed, but General Brock arrived just at 
the point of victory and drove the Americans back, whilo 
their militia refused to cross the river to reinforce their army. 
The battle resulted in the capture of all who crossed ; the 
British victory being clouded, however, by the loss of the 
gallant Brock, who was shot while leading his men. Thus 
singularly were the Americans defeated on land at the begin- 
ning of the war while victory immediately perched upon oar 
banner on the sea. General Hull had scarcely surrendered ere 
Captain Hull, commanding the Constitution, met the British 
frigate Guerriere and in half an hour's engagement so com- 
pletely disabled her as not only to compel her surrender but 
to necessitate burning her. 

Another signal naval victory was achieved on the 17th of 
October, over an enemy decidedly superior in force. This was 
the capture of the brig Frolic of twenty-two guns by the 
sloop-of-war Wasp, in command of Captain Paul Jones, who 
had returned from France two weeks after the declaration of 
war, and again on the 13th of October put to sea. On the 17th 
he fell in with six merchant ships under convoy of a brig and 
two ships, armed with sixteen guns each. The brig, which 
proved to be the Frolic, dropped behind and opened the 
engagement with the Wasp. In five minutes the Frolicfs 



JAMES MADISON. 



115 



maintopmast was shot away, bringing down her maintopsail 
yard across the sails. In two minutes more her gaff and 
mizzea -topgallant-mast was shot away. Soon after this Cap- 
tain Jones boarded her and found an almost unprecedented 
scene of havoc and ruin, with thirty killed and fifty wounded, 
while on board the Wasp only five were killed and five 
slightly wounded. The Wasp and Frolic, however, were both 
captured the same day by a British seventy-four-gun ship. 

On the 25th of October a combat occurred between the frigate 
United States, commanded by Commodore Decatur, and the 
British ship Macedonian, resulting in the surrender of the latter 
after great loss of men and damage to the vessel. 

In November Congress met, and President Madison in his 
message frankly acknowledged the defeats our armies had 
met with on the Canadian border. He also complained of the 
savage warfare brought on by British employment of the 
Indians. Massachusetts and Connecticut also came in for a 
share of blame in refusing to furnish their quota of militia. 
But while it seemed almost impossible to put an army in the 
field, our navy was gaining the most signal and remarkable 
victories on record. 

On December 29th the Constitution gained a second victory, 
her capture being the Java, a British frigate of 49 guns 
and 400 men. This engagement was fought off St. Salvador, 
and after two hours the Java struck her colors, having lost 
sixty killed and one hundred and twenty wounded. The Con- 
stitution had nine killed and twenty-five wounded. During 
the winter also, after a fifteen minutes' engagement, the Amer- 
ican ship Hornet captured the British sloop-of-war Peacock. 
On surrendering she displayed a signal of distress, and was 
found to be sinking so fast that the Hornet's crew, laboring at 
the risk of their lives, could not rescue all the vanquished, and 
nine of the British and three Americans went down with the 
sloop. The English were left so destitute that the Hornefs 
crew divided their clothing with them. 

At this period of the war the Presidential election took place, 
and notwithstanding the opposition of the Eastern States, Mr. 
Madison was re-elected, and the majority in Congress justify- 



116 



LITES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



ing bis course was sufficient to pass a resolution approving the 
President's refusal to make peace, except upon the removal of 
the possibility of the Engbsb impressing or searching for 
American seamen. 

0:i land the war was continued tln*ough the inclemency of a 
Northern winter, and in January, 1813, General Winchester 
marched with an American army to recapture Detroit ; but 
General Procter, witb a force of regular troops and Indians, ' 
defeated the Americans, and took Winchester and the greater 
number of his army prisoners. Soon after this the Kentucky 
troops marched upon Procter, and at their first charge drove 
him from his position, but the British rallied and routed the 
.Americans. The defeats of the American army soon proved 
the necessity of turning our military operations on the Canada 
border into naval ones, and a fleet was fitted out on Lake Ontario 
with great activity and zeal, and by the end of April it was 
ready to transport a small army. The first expedition embarked 
two thousand men and captured York, with about six hundred 
British prisoners. This stirred up the British to rival their 
enemy on the lakes, and soon they had a flotilla equal, or supe- 
rior, to the Americans, which turned the advantage upon Lake 
Ontario against them. 

Lake Erie, however, was the scene of our grandest naval 
victory. Commodore Perry, with a fleet of nine vessels of fifty 
to sixty guns each, met a force of six of the enemy's ships of 
a still greater number of guns, and capturing their whole 
squadron, sent his laconic report : "We have met the enemy 
and they are ours." 

This great victory had such a depressing effect upon the 
British that they were forced to fall back from their positions, 
Detroit being the first stronghold abandoned. In this retreat 
the Americans under General Harrison came up with Sir George 
Prevost near the Moravian villages on the Thames, and defeated 
him with signal loss to the British. In this battle Tecumseh, 
the great Indian warrior, was slain, and this seemed to dis- 
courage the savage allies. 

The turn of the victorious tide brought about by the engage- 
ment on Lake Erie prepared the way for a more successful in- 



JAMES MADISON. 



117 



vasion of Canada. The force destined for this work amounted 
to twelve thousand men, eight thousand of whom were sta- 
tioned at Niagara and four thousand at Plattsburg. In addition 
to these forces, those under General Harrison were expected 
to arrive in season to take an important part in the campaign. 

The plan was to descend the St. Lawrence, pass the British 
forts above, and, after a junction with General Hampton, to pro- 
ceed to the island of Montreal. This plan was prevented by unex- 
pected obstacles, and the American army wintered at St. Eegis. 

General Wilkinson concentrated his forces at Grenadier's 
Island, one hundred and eighty miles from Montreal, and leav- 
ing this place on the 25th of October, onboard the fleet, they 
- descended the St. Lawrence, in expectation of capturing Mont- 
real. Arriving at "Williamsburg on the 9th of November, 
fifteen hundred men were landed from the flotilla to protect 
the boats in their passage of the rapids. This detachment meet- 
ing a body of the enemy on the 11th, engaged them, resulting 
in a drawn fight. A few days previous to this battle, as General 
Harrison had not arrived, General Wilkinson dispatched orders 
to General Hampton to meet him at St. Regis. This being 
impracticable, the proposed attack on Montreal was abandoned, 
and the army went into winter quarters at French Mills. 

In the Southwest a furious war was carried on between the 
Creek Indians and the Americans, in which General Jackson, 
by his great valor, subdued the savages after destroying a large 
part of their tribe. 

At sea this year the Americans had not been so successful, as 
the British were very desirous of wiping out some of the stains 
on the navy of their country. After the victory of the Hornet 
over the Peacock, Captain Lawrence was promoted to the com- 
mand of the frigate Chesapeake. The British frigate Shannon 
was soon off Boston harbor, and Captain Broke, her com- 
mander, challenged the Chesapeake, and Captain Lawrence 
sailed out to meet the foe, who, after fifteen minutes, boarded 
and captured the Chesapeake. The gallant Lawrence was mor- 
tally wounded, and his dying orders were : " Don't give up the 
ship." 

Congress still supported the policy of Mr. Madison, notwith- 



118 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



standing the complaint of the opposition at the expense. The 
summer session was devoted to voting additional taxes, which, 
now that commerce was paralyzed, were necessarily some of 
them internal. Duties were levied on wine, spirits, sugar, salt, 
etc., and a loan of over seven millions of dollars was author- 
ized, and still other loans were required. During the course of 
the year the Emperor of Russia off ert d his mediation between 
England and Americj. Yfe at once sent commissioners to St. 
Petersburg, but Great Britain declined the mediation, but 
offered to send commissioners to any neutral port more friendly 
to England. Gothenburg was selected for the purpose. 

At both extremities of Lake Ontario the war was continued 
by desultory engagements of either army. Forts Erie and 
Oswego were taken by the British. In July an American 
invading force attacked the British at Chippewa, in Canada, 
and repulsed the enemy. Soon after this, Commodore 
McDonough, with his fleet, met the ships of the enemy on 
Lake Champlain, and captured the entire British fleet. 

As the war in Europe was now over, Great Britain determined 
to make the United States feel more fully the inconvenience of 
having provoked their hostility, and a squadron under Sir 
Alexander Cochrane, with an army on board under General 
Ross, sailed up the Chesapeake in the month of August in pur- 
suit of the American flotilla, which had taken shelter in the 
Patuxent River. As the British fleet could not go up the river, 
General Ross disembarked his troops and pursued the American 
vessels by land until they were destroyed to prevent their fall- 
ing into the hands of the enemy. From Marlborough, where 
the flotilla was destroyed, the British troops continued their 
march toward Washington. To prevent the capture of the 
national capital, the Americans took a strong position at 
Bladensburg, the chief approach to which lay over a bridge 
commanded by the American artillery, but the raw niilitia of 
Virginia and Maryland were no match for the British veterans 
of the peninsula, and after three hours' fighting Bladensburg 
was abandoned by its defenders, and the British marched to 
Washington, where in a spirit of inexcusable vandalism they 
burned the public buildings. 



JAMES MADISON. 



119 



On the invasion of the capital and the destruction of the 
national buildings, President Madison, from his retreat in Vir- 
ginia issued a proclamation denouncing the wanton acts of 
destruction by the British, and calling upon the entire country 
to unite in a manly and universal determination to chastise and 
expel the invader. The indignation of the public, however, 
was divided between the British and those who should have 
provided for the defense of the capital. 

The work of destruction accomplished, the British retreated 
without loss of time to their ships, and re-embarking, sailed to 
ravage other points. Alexandria was captured and paid a 
ransom to save all but its stores and shipping. The British then 
selected Baltimore as the next city upon which to wreak their 
vengeance, but the city was so well fortified and defended that 
the British attack was repulsed. 

On the 19th of September Congress again assembled at 
Washington, the members meeting in rooms hastily fitted up 
for their reception, and on the following day President Madison 
sent in the usual Message to Congress, in which, after review- 
ing the temporary successes and permanent dishonor of the 
enemy's recent unjustifiable destruction of public property, 
called attention to the splendid victories gained on the Ca- 
nadian side of the Niagara by the American forces under 
Generals Brown and Scott and Gaines. The Message also 
called attention to the bold and skillful operations of Major- 
General Jackson in having subdued the principal tribes of 
hostile savages. The Message then, after entering into financial 
details of national receipts and expenditures, closed with an 
earnest appeal for both men and money to vigorously assail 
the invading foe against whom we had forborne declaring war 
until, among other British aggressions, had been added the 
capture of nearly one thousand American vessels and the im- 
pressment of thousands of American seafaring citizens. 

The commissioners of both nations had in the meantime met 
at Ghent, instead of Gothenburg ; bat the victory of the British 
over Napoleon had made them arrogant, and their demands 
were more than we would concede. 

In the meantime the party opposed to the war in the New 



120 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



England States became highly exasperated, and a convention 
was proposed by them cf delegates from each State to meet at 
Hartford in order to consider changes in the Constitution. But 
this dangerous spirit was arrest; d by the tidings that peace 
negotiations had at length been signed at Ghent. These tidings, 
however, did not arrive until the army, victorious at Wash- 
ington, had received a check which terminated the war in a 
manner glorious to the nation and much to the support of Mr. 
Madison's administration. We refer of course to the battle of 
New Orleans. 

The news of peace came amidst the rejoicings for the victory 
of New Orleans. It was doubly welcome because so gloriously 
terminated. Great Britain made no demands, and as impress- 
ment and right of search had ceased with the war between 
Great Britain and France, we naturally desisted from our 
demand, and a commercial treaty was concluded upon fair 
terms between the countries. But it was not long ere this 
began to affect American manufactures. During the war, 
whilst shut out from England, the Americans began to manu- 
facture the different goods they were deprived of, but of course 
at a higher price and of poorer quality than those excluded. 
Peace brought back the cheap and excellent goods of England, 
the competition was driving American manufacturers to the 
wall, and they exclaimed against the want of patriotism in 
sacrificing them to foreigners. The opinion gained strength in 
the country that our manufacturers should be supported and 
encouraged, and Mr. Madison, himself jealous of the decline of 
manufactures and still more of shipping, owing to the rivalry 
of the British, felt his old prejudices revive, and his messages 
to Congress soon began to recommend prohibitory measures 
and conservative duties. 

The summer and winter of 1816 passed away without being 
marked by any event of particular importance, and the time 
arrived when Mr. Madison should leave the Presidential chair 
and retire to private life. Returning to Montpeher he passed 
the remainder of his years in a dignified and honorable retire- 
ment. Without mingling in the petty and distracting discus- 
sions of the day, he was always ready to express his opinions on 



JAMES MADISON. 



121 



the great constitutional questions in regard to which he was 
consulted. No man, perhaps, was so familiar with the history 
of the constitution, so thoroughly understood it, or speculated 
with so much clearness and felicity on its principles as Mr. 
Madison. The letter which he wrote in 1830 to Edward Everett 
on the agitating topic of nullification, was one of the most 
admirable and conclusive documents which ever emanated from 
any of our statesmen on a political question. From this lengthy 
and comprehensive document we extract the following : 

"The constitution was formed, not by the governments of the component 
States, as the Federal Government for which it was substituted was formed. 
Nor was it formed by a majority of the people of the United States, as a single 
community, in the manner of a consolidated government. 

" It was formed by the States, that is, by the people in each of the States, 
acting in their highest sovereign capacity; and formed, consequently, by the 
State Constitution. 

' ' Being thus derived from the same source as the constitutions of the 
States, it has, within each State, the same authority as the constitution of 
the State; and is as much a constitution, in the strict sense of the term, within 
its prescribed sphere, as the constitutions of the States are within their re- 
spective spheres, but with this obvious and essential difference, that being 
a compact among the States in their highest, and constituting the people 
thereof one people for certain purposes, it cannot be altered or annulled at the 
will of the States individually, as the constitution of a State may be at its in- 
dividual will. 

"And that it divides the supreme powers of government between the Gov- 
ernment of the Un ted States and the governments of the individual States 
is stamped on the face of the instrument; the powers of war and of taxation, 
of commerce and of treaties and of other enumerated powers vested in the 
Government of the United States being of as high and sovereign a character 
as any of the powers reserved to the State governments. 

" Nor is the Government of the United States, created by the Constitution, 
less a government in the strict sense of the term, within the sphere of its 
powers, than the governments created by the constitutions of the States are, 
within their several spheres. It is, like them, organized into Legislative, 
Executive and Judiciary departments. It operates, like them, directly on 
persons and things. And, like them, it has at command a physical force for 
executing the powers committed to it. The concurrent operation in certain 
cases is one of the features marking the peculiarity of the system. 

"Between these different constitutional governments, the one operating 
in all the States, the others operating separately in each, with the aggregate 
powers of government divided between them, it could not escape attention 
that controversies would arise concerning the boundaries of jurisdiction 
and that some provision ought t J be made for such occurrences. A political 



122 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



system that does not provide for a peaceable and authoritative termination 
of occurring controversies would not be more than the shadow of a govern- 
ment; the object and end of a real government being the substitution of law 
and order for uncertainty, confusion and violence. 

" That to have left a final decision in such cases to each of the States could 
not fail to make the Constitution and laws of the United States different in 
different States was obvious, and not less obvious that this diversity of inde- 
pendent decisions must altogether distract the Government of the Union and 
speedily put an end tc the Union its* If. A uniform authority of the laws is in 
itself a vital principle. Lome of the most important laws could not be par- 
tially executed. They must be duly executed in all the States or they could 
be duly executed in none. An import or an excise, for example, if not in 
force in some States would be defeated in others. It is well known that this 
was among the lessons of experience which had a primary influence in bring- 
ing about the existing Constitution. A loss of its general authority would 
moreover revive the exasperating questions between the States holding ports 
for foreign commerce and the adjoining States without them. 

********** 

" To have referred every clashing decision, under the two authorities for 
a final decision, to the States as parties to the Constitution, would be at- 
tended with delays, with inconveniences and with expenses amounting to a 
prohibition of the expedient, not to mention its tendency to impair the 
salutary veneration for a system requiring such frequent interpositions, nor 
the delicate questions which might present themselves as to the form of 
stating the appeal and as to the quorum for deciding it. 

" To have trusted to negotiation for adjusting disputes between the 
Government of the United States and the State governments, as between 
independent and separate sovereignties, would have lost sight altogether of 
a constitution and government for the Union, and opened a direct road from 
a failure of that resort to the ultima ratio between nations wholly inde- 
pendent of and alien to each other." 

Mr. Madison, in this style, ably followed out the entire argu- 
ment against the false and dangerous doctrine of nullification, 
and the assertion of the right of a minority of the State to 
change or annul the Constitution, calling attention to the pro- 
vision in the Constitution itself requiring two-thirds of the 
States to institute and three-fourths to effectuate an amend- 
ment to the Constitution. 

During the latter part of his I fe Mr. Madison was associated 
with Mr. Jefferson in the institution of the University of Vir- 
ginia, and after his death was placed at its head with the title 
of Rector. He was also president of an agricultural society in 



JAMES MADISON. 



123 



the county of his residence. Such were the occupations of this 
philosopher, statesman and patriot until the 21st day of June, 
1838, the anniversary of the day on which the ratification of 
the constitution of Virginia, in 1788, had affixed the seal of 
James Madison as the father of the Constitution of the United 
States, when, without a struggle, his life serenely ended on 
earth, and he passed into that land beyond the bounds of time. 



JAMES MONROE. 



James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States, was 
born in September, 1759, on the banks of the Potomac, in the 
county of Westmoreland, Virginia. His ancestors had for many 
years resided in the province in which he was born, and one of 
them was among the first patentees of that province. 

Young Monroe was, at seventeen years of age, in the process 
of completing his classical education at the College of William 
and Mary, when the Colonial delegates, assembled at Philadel- 
phia to deliberate upon the unjust and manifold oppressions of 
Great Britain, declared the separation of the colonies, and pro- 
mulgated the Declaration of Independence. His youth pre- 
cluded him from taking any part in the controversies which had 
agitated the country from the first attempt to enforce the Stamp 
act ; but upon the first formation of the American army young 
Monroe, at that period eighteen years of age, left his college 
and proceeded to General Washington's headquarters at New 
York, enrolled himself in the army as a cadet in the regiment 
commanded by Colonel Mercer, and shared all the defeats and 
privations which attended the footsteps of Washington through 
the disastrous battles of Flatbush, Harlem Heights and White 
Plains. He was present at the succeeding evacuation of New 
York and Long Island, at the surrender of Fort Washington 
and the retreat through New Jersey. He stood with Washing- 
ton on the banks of the Delaware to contend with the British 
invader, and at the battle of Trenton he led the vanguard, and 
in charging the enemy received a wound in his left shoulder. 
This bravery secured his promotion to a captaincy of infantry, 
which position he assumed after his recovery from the wound. 
Soon after this he became an officer on the staff of Lord Ster- 
ling, and later exerted himself to collect a regiment for the 



126 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Virginia line. Failing in this, he entered the office of Mr. Jeffer- 
son, at that time Governor of Virginia, and pursued the study of 
law, serving at the same time as a volunteer. He was next 
promoted by Mr. Jefferson to the position of military com- 
missioner, to inquire into the condition of the Southern army 
under De Kalb. 

His talents were such that the country needed him in a 
higher fL ld, and in 1782 he was elected a member of the Legis- 
lature of Virginia, and by that body he was elevated to a seat 
in the Executive Council, where he displayed such extraordi- 
nary talent that in the succeeding year he was chosen a member 
of Congress, and from 1783 to 1786 was an industrious and use- 
ful member. In 1784 he was appointed one of nine commis- 
sioners to act as judges in a controversy between the States of 
Massachusetts and New York. 

During his attendance in Congress at New York he married 
Miss Kortwright of that city, who was not only celebrated for 
her beauty, but for her accomplishments of mind and elegance 
of manners. 

In 1787 Mr. Monroe began the practice of law in Fredericks- 
burg, but soon after was elected to the Legislature of the State, 
and in the following year chosen a member of that Virginia 
Convention which met to decide upon the Federal Constitution. 
Mr. Monroe, with such men as George Mason and Patrick 
Henry, opposed the adoption of the Federal Constitution in the 
form in which it had been submitted, but the position he took 
did not shake the confidence and high esteem in which he was 
held by the citizens of his native State, for in 1789 he was 
cjiosen by them to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate, in 
which position he continued for nearly five years. In 1794, our 
Minister Plenipotentiary to France having been recalled, Mr. 
Monroe was appointed his successor. At the close of Washing- 
ton's administration he was recalled, and returning home, pub- 
lished an able work in explanation of his own opinions and 
proceedings, entitled : "A View of the Conduct of the Execu- 
tive in the Foreign Affairs of the United States, connected with 
the Mission to the French Republic, during the years 1794, 5 
and 6." Mr. Monroe was bitterly opposed to the treaty which 



JAMES MONROE. 



127 



Mr. Jay had concluded with Great Britain, although it proved 
afterward very beneficial to this country, but Mr. Monroe's 
election to the State Legislature on his return home, and soon 
after to the office of Governor of Virginia, proves how strong 
a hold he had upon the hearts and confidence of his fellow 
citizens. 

On the 11th of January, 1803, Mr. Monroe was appointed En- 
voy Extraordinary, and joined with that eminent patriot, Rob- 
ert R. Livingston, our resident Minister in France, to negotiate 
a purchase of the island of New Orleans, and the Spanish ter- 
ritory east of the Mississippi River. He was also appointed 
with Charles Pinckney, then our Minister Plenipotentiary at 
Madrid, to an extraordinary Mission, to negotiate, if necessary, 
the same purchase with Spain, which nation still held possession 
of Louisiana- 
It was not until after Mr. Monroe's arrival in France that the 
Emperor was favorably inclined to the sale of Louisiana, but 
realizing the need of the large amount of money asked for the 
territory, he showed a willingness to sell. The benefits secured 
to the United States by the fifteen millions of dollars paid for 
Louisiana catt scarcely be fully realized. Had the French con- 
tinued to hold the mouth of the Mississippi, with the English in 
possession of the St. Lawrence, we would have had only the 
Atlantic Ocean for an outlet, and it is probable that those two 
powerful empires would have sought to possess themselves of 
the entire Pacific coast, and they would probably have made 
our Western territories their battle-field, and no one could have 
foreseen the fate of the country. 

After this successful sale and important treaty had been rati- 
fied, and certain claims of American citizens upon France ad- 
justed, Mr. Monroe proceeded to England as Minister Plenipo- 
tentiary, to succeed Rufus King, who, after seven years' faithful 
service, had requested that he might return home. Mr. Mon- 
roe, in the same conciliatory spirit which Mr. King had exer- 
cised, was endeavoring to adjust our difficulties with Great 
Britain in reference to the odious impressment outrages which 
were renewed on the outbreak of the war between France and 
England, when he was summoned to discharge his extraordi- 



128 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



nary mission to Spair, in reference to the purchase of Florida 
and the definite settlement of the boundaries of Louisiana. 
After remaining in Madrid five months, Mr. Monroe returned to 
England in June, 1805, to find that affairs had assumed such a 
menacing aspect that he had to contend with great difficulties. 
Mr. Pitt was at the head of the British Government, and pur- 
sued the interested and base policy of destroying the commerce 
of neutrals with France and Spain, to compel its enemies to 
traffic with the subjects of Great Britain. To effect this the 
British cruisers seized many of our vessels and procured their 
condemnation in the courts of admiralty. Mr. Monroe remon- 
strated against these acts of injustice, and being joined soon 
after by Mr. William Pinckney, a treaty was secured by which, 
with proper modifications on our part, peace and harmony 
might have been restored, but President Jefferson insisted that 
some securer provisions might be added in reference to the im- 
pressment of seamen, The new British Minister refused to 
negotiate further on the ratification of the treaty, and therefore 
the mission of Monroe and Pinckney was at an end. From this 
period Mr Monroe never again went abroad, but was employed, 
until the expiration of his Presidential term, in offices of the 
highest importance and trust in his own country. 

For a few months after his return he rested from his labors 
in the peaceful retreat of domestic retirement, and then he was 
called to a seat in the State Legislature, and again re-elected 
Governor of Virginia for one term. After this, in the spring of 
1811, he was appointed by President Madison Secretary of State. 
He accepted this important position at a critical period in our 
national history, when w T e were just on the eve of war, and as 
he was among the first of those gallant men who joined the 
army of the Revolution, so he was called to the councils of Gov- 
ernment in an hour of great need for his services. Mr. Monroe, 
in addition to his office of Secretary of State, was also appointed 
Secretary of War, after the blunders of the former incumbent 
of the office had compelled him to resign, and the successes of 
the war in our favor may be said to have dated from Mr. Mon- 
roe's discharge of the duties of the important office, at least so 
far as the able services of Mr. Monroe could improve our mili- 



JAMES MONROE. 



129 



tary condition in the field. In the discharge of his duties and 
in his noble devotion to his country at a time when our finances 
were in a deplorable condition, he, with a spirit; of sacrifice 
worthy of the brightest epoch of Grecian renown, pledged his 
own individual credit in aid of a national loan. 

On the return of peace Mr. Monroe relinquished his office in 
the Department of War, and continued to exercise the duties of 
Secretary of State until the close of Mr. Madison's administra- 
tion. On the 5th of March, 1817, Mr. Monroe was inaugurated 
as President of the United States, upon which occasion he 
delivered a most able inaugural address, in which, calling 
attention to the recent war he urged upon our people the 
necessity of a better military and naval defense of our 
country. 

Among the appointments of President Monroe was that of 
John Quincy Adams as Secretary of State ; Wm. H. Crawford 
as Secretary of the Treasury, John C. Calhoun as Secretary of 
War, and B. W. Crowninshield as Secretary of the Navy. Soon 
after making these appointments Mr. Monroe left Washington 
to commence his tour through the States, which elicited a most 
general expression of kindness, respect and courtesy. In his 
receptions in the various cities he received and delivered 
addresses denoting the highest statesmanship. 

President Monroe returned from his extensive and felicitous 
tour in time for the assembling of the new Congress, during 
which session the State of Mississippi was admitted into the 
Union. 

Soon after the adjournment of Congress Mr. Monroe visited 
those parts of the United States most exposed to the enemy , and 
especially the Chesapeake Bay and country lying on its exten- 
sive shores. Accompanied by the Secretary of War, Secretary 
of the Navy and other prominent officials, he made an exami- 
nation of Annapolis and the contiguous waters in reference to 
their fitness for a naval depot. After making a further exam- 
ination of the coast he proceeded to Norfolk, from which point 
he returned to Washington through the interior of Virginia. 
During the summer of 1819 President Monroe visited the South- 
ern section of the country, having in view the same great 



130 



LIVES OF OtTR PRESIDENTS. 



national interests which had prompted him in his previous tour 
to the North. 

The most important topic of consideration during the ensu- 
ing session was connected with the admission of the Territory 
of Missouri into the Union. It was on the expediency of im- 
posing it as a condition of this admission that the future 
removal or transportation of slaves into that territory should 
be prohibited. This question gave rise to great warmth of 
feeling, and seemed at one time to threaten a dissolution of the 
Union. 

In the spring of 1820 the President transmitted to CoDgress 
important messages on the subject of our relations with Spain. 
The King of Spain had failed to ratify the treaty with the 
Unitc-d States, and sent a Minister to Washington who had 
no authority to surrender the territory in dispute, but was 
instructed to make complaints and demand explanations respect- 
ing an imputed system of hostility on the part of citizens of the 
United States against the subjects and dominion of Spain, and 
to obtain new stipulations against these alleged injuries as the 
condition on which the treaty should be ratified. One proposi- 
tion of the Minister was that the United States should abandon 
the right to recognize the revolutionary colonies in South 
America, or to form new relations with them. In reference to 
this, in his message, Mr. Monroe's sentiments were of the highest 
order of statesmanship, and while he admitted that we might 
at pleasure occupy the territory which was intended and pro- 
vided by the late treaty as an indemnity for losses so long since 
sustained by our citizens, he urged the nobler forbearance until 
the head of the new organization of the Spanish Government 
fully understood the international question and difference 
between us. 

On the 13th of November, 1820, Congress reassembled at 
Washington, and the President's message included a most in- 
teresting report of the financial condition of the government, 
its resources and expenditures, together with an accurate state- 
ment of the public debt, and its reduction during the five years 
ending the SOth of September, 1820, and he called attention to 
the fact that during this period the expenses of the government 



JAMES MONROE. 



131 



of the United States were likewise defrayed in every branch of 
the civil, military and naval establishments ; the public edifices 
in Washington had been rebuilt with considerable additions ; 
extensive fortifications had been commenced and were in rapid 
process of execution ; permanent arsenals and magazines had 
been erected in various parts of the Union ; our navy had been 
considerably augmented, and all our ordnance, munitions of 
war, and military and naval stores, replenished. 
With much pride Mr. Monroe called attention to the fact 




THE CAPITOL AT "WASHINGTON. 



that the public expenditures for the year had been less than 
seventeen millions of dollars, while a substantial balance re- 
mained in the Treasury. 

On the 25th of November an effort was again made to secure 
the admission of the Territory of Missouri to the Union. The 
debate on the subject continued for one week and it was de- 
cided by a majority of fourteen in the House that Missouri 
could not be admitted into the Union with the present consti- 
tution. 

The Missouri question again presented itself in rather a dif- 
ferent shape on the 14th of February, 1821, the day appointed 



132 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



by law for opening and counting the votes for President and 
Vice-President for the ensuing term. It was foreseen that a 
difficulty might arise in regard to the votes for Missouri. To 
guard against any possible difficulty a resolution was passed in 
the Senate directing that if any objection should be made to 
counting the votes returned from Missouri, and provided these 
votes should not make any difference in the result, the Presi- 
dent should declare that if the votes of Missouri were counted, 
the number of votes for A. B. would be so many, and if the 
votes of Missouri were not counted, the number would be so 
many, and that in either case A. B. is elected. Upon this plan 
the votes for James Monroe, including the vote of Missouri, 
were two hundred and thirty-one, and excluding the vote of 
Missouri, they amounted to two hundred and twenty-eight, 
The vote without Missouri being such a decided majority, Mr. 
Monroe was declared elected President, and Mr. Tompkins 
Vice-President. 

On the 26th of February, Mr. Clay, from the joint committee 
appointed on the Missouri subject, reported a resolution favor- 
ing the admission of Missouri into the Union on an equal foot- 
ing with the original States. In this resolution there were 
certain fundamental conditions which gave rise to much dis- 
cussion, but the final result was the admission of Missouri. 

On the 22d of February, a proclamation was issued by the 
President promulgating the treaty which had been made with 
Spain, and its final ratification by the two countries. Two 
measures of great public interest and importance were thus at 
about the same period brought to a felicitous termination. 

On the 5th of March Mr. Monroe took the oath to support the 
Constitution of the United States, and was again inaugurated 
as President. On this occasion he made an address to his fel- 
low citizens at large, and laid before them a general view of 
the policy which the government intended to pursue. He very 
properly availed himself of his re-election to consider it as the 
public approbation of his conduct during the preceding term. 
After a brief notice of measures for fortification and defense, 
which had been rendered necessary by the events of the late 
war, the President took a cursory review of our foreign rela- 



JAMES MONROE. 



138 



tions and the state of the national revenue. He then called 
attention to the care of the Indian tribes within our limits, and 
took occasion to object to our treatment of them as independ- 
ent nations without their having any substantial pretension to 
that rank. After a brief reference to the unsettled condition 
of Europe, and the prospects of general war among the powers 
there, he cited with pride the condition of our own happy and 
peaceful country, and our increasing growth and prosperity, 
and claimed that in our whole system, national and State, we 
had shunned all the defects which unceasingly preyed upon 
and destroyed the ancient republics. In them there were dis- 
tinct orders, a nobility and a people, or the people governed in 
one assembly. Thus in the one instance there was a perpetual 
conflict between the orders in society for the ascendancy, in 
which the victory of either terminated in the overthrow of the 
government and the ruin of the State. In the other, in which 
the people governed in a body, and whose dominions seldom 
exceeded the dimensions of a county in one of our States, a 
tumultous and disorderly movement permitted only a transi- 
tory existence. 

On the 3d of December Congress again assembled, and on 
the 5th the President transmitted to both Houses of Congress 
the annual message. It was quite long and interesting, pre- 
senting a favorable view of the affairs of the nation, as respected 
its commerce, manufactures and revenues. It stated that in 
pursuance of the treaty with Spain, possession of East and 
West Florida had been given to the United States, but that the 
archives and documents relative to the sovereignty of those 
provinces had not been delivered. Mr. Monroe also particu- 
larly mentioned our manufactures. "It cannot be doubted," 
said he, "that the more complete our internal resources and 
the less dependent we are on foreign powers for every national 
as well as domestic purpose, the greater and more stable will 
be the public felicity. By the increase of domestic manufac- 
tures will the demand for the rude materials at home be in- 
creased, and thus will the dependence of the several parts of 
our Union on each other, and the strength of the Union itself, 
be proportionately augmented." 



134 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



On the 21st of January the Committee on the Judiciary 
reported a bill for establishing a uniform system of bankruptcy, 
and Mr. Sergeant, the chairman of the committee, made a 
speech in favor of the bill. This was followed by a speech 
from Mr. Randolph, who desired Congress to pass a law impair- 
ing the obligation of contracts, whenever made. The bill was 
finally rejected. 

On the 26th of February the solemn announcement was made 
to the Senate and House of the death of Mr. Pinckney, the 
noble patriot and able diplomat and statesman, who had done 
such able work for his country. Mr. Lloyd, of Maryland, the 
colleague of Mr. Pinckney in the Senate, and Mr. Randolph, 
of Virginia, were the memorial speakers of the occasion. 

On the 8th of March President Monroe communicated to 
Congress a message in which he recommended the recognition 
of South American independence. This message was referred 
to a committee, who reported unanimously in favor of the pro- 
posed measure, and introduced a resolution to appropriate a 
sum to enable the President to give due effect to such recog- 
nition. The Spanish Minister immediately entered a protest 
against the recognition of the insurgent provinces of Spain, and 
declared the intention of his country to employ every means to 
reunite them to the rest of her dominions. To this protest the 
Secretary of State replied that our recognition was not in- 
tended in any way to invalidate the rights of Spain, but was 
merely the acknowledgment of existing facts. 

On the 2d of December Congress again assembled, and the 
President submitted his message which contained a satisfactory 
exposition of the affairs of the Union, both at home and 
abroad. On the subject of internal improvement and manufac- 
tures the President observed: " Believing that a competent 
power to adopt and execute a system of internal improvement 
has not been granted to Congress, but that such a power con- 
fined to great national purposes, and with proper limitations, 
would be productive of eminent advantage to our Union, I 
have thought it advisable that an amendment to the Constitu- 
tion to that effect should be recommended to the several States." 

On the 1st of December the Eighteenth Congress commenced 



JAMES MONEOE. 



135 



its first session. In his message the President spoke in animated 
terms of the prosperous condition of the country, and of the 
amicable state of our relations with foreign countries. 

On the 27th of May, 1824, the Eighteenth Congress closed its 
first session. Among the most important bills which were 
passed was one for abolishing imprisonment for debt ; and 
a second establishing a tariff of duties on imports. 

During the succeeding summer the President had the pleasure 
of once more meeting with the Marquis de Lafayette, who 
again visited our country and the scenes of his early military 
labors as our friend and ally during the Revolutionary War. 

The second session of the Eighteenth Congress began on the 
6th of December, 1824, and closed on the 3d of the following 
March, at which time the administration of Mr. Monroe closed. 
During his occupation of the Presidential chair the country 
enjoyed a uniform state of peace and prosperity. By his 
prudent management of the national affairs, both foreign and 
domestic, he eminently contributed to the peace and happiness 
of millions, and retired from office enjoying the respect, affec- 
tion and gratitude of all. 

On the 3d of March, 1825, Mr. Monroe retired to his residence 
in Loudoun County, Virginia, where for a time he dicharged 
the ordinary judicial functions of a magistrate of the county 
and of curator of the University of Virginia. In the winter of 
1829 and 1830 he served as a member of the Convention called 
to revise the Constitution of Virginia, over which body he was 
unanimously chosen president. Severe illness, however, soon 
compelled him to retire. The succeeding summer he was visited 
by a great bereavement in the death of the beloved partner of 
his life. Soon after this deep affliction he removed his residence 
to New York, where, surrounded by filial solicitude and ten- 
derness, the flickering lamp of life held its lingering flame as if 
to await the day of the nation's birth and glory, when the soldier 
of the Revolution, the statesman of the confederacy and the 
chosen chieftain of the nation passed into that slumber which 
has no awakening on earth, and yielded his pure and noble 
spirit to receive the sentence of his Maker. 




3. 



Q 9 JLIojvyJ 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 



John Quincy Adams was descended from a race of farmers, 
tradesmen and mechanics. In 1630 his remote ancestor, Henry 
Adams, came to America with seven sons, and established him- 
self in this country. Thus early rooted in the soil, a warm 
attachment to the cause and the rights of America has been from 
generation to generation the birthright of this family. 

The first of this name who emerged from private life and rose 
to conspicuous public stations were Samuel Adams, the pro- 
scribed patriot of the Eevolution, and John Adams, who was 
pronounced by his venerable compatriot, Thomas Jefferson, ' 'The 
Colossus of Independence." These two distinguished benefac- 
tors of their country were descendants of the same remote an- 
cestors. Samuel A dams died without male issue. John Quincy 
Adams was a son of John Adams. He was born in the year 
1767, and was named for John Quincy, his great-grandfather, 
who bore a conspicuous part in the councils of the province at 
the commencement of the last century. 

The principles of American independence and freedom were 
instilled into the mind of John Quincy Adams in the very dawn 
of his existence. Both of his revered parents had entered with 
every power and faculty into the cause of the country. When 
John Adams repaired to France as joint commissioner with 
Franklin and Lee, he was accompanied by his son, John Quincy, 
then in his eleventh year, where he enjoyed the enviable privi- 
lege of the daily intercourse and sage attentions of Benjamin 
Franklin, whose primitive simplicity of manners and methodi- 
cal habits left a lasting impression on the mind of his youthful 
countryman. 

After remaining in France about eighteen months John 
Quincy Adams returned to America with his father, who came 



138 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



home to take part in the formation of the constitution of his 
native State. After a sojourn of a few months at home the 
voice of the country called on John Adams again to repair to 
Europe as a commissioner, and taking John Quincy with him, 
upon reaching Paris the youth was put to school. In July of 
the same year Mr. Adams repaired to Holland to negotiate a 
loan, and John Quincy was there placed first in the public 
school of the city of Amsterdam and afterward in the Univer- 
sity of Leyden. In July, 1781, Mr. Francis Dana, who had gone 
out with Mr. Adams as Secretary of Legation, received from 
the Continental Congress the commission of Minister to the 
Empress of Russia, and John Quincy Adams was selected 
by Mr. Dana as a private secretary of this mission. After re- 
maining fourteen months with Mr. Dana, he left him to return 
to his father in Holland, where he had been received as Minister 
from the United States. Young Adams reached the Hague in 
April, 1783, his father being at that time engaged at Paris in 
the negotiation of peace. The definite treaty of peace was 
signed in September, 1783, from which time until May, 1785, he 
was chiefly with his father in England, Holland and France. 

Mr. Adams was at the period last mentioned about eighteen 
years of age, and had led a life of wandering and vicissitude 
unusual at his age. Anxious to complete his education, and 
still more anxious to return to his native America, when his 
father in 1785 was appointed Minister to the Court of St. James, 
he asked permission to go back to his native shores. On his 
return to America he became a student of the ancient seat of 
learning at Cambridge. 

In July, 1787, Mr. Adams left college and entered the office 
of Theophilus Parsons, as a student of law, at Newburyport. 
On a visit of General Washington to that town in 1789, Mr, 
Parsons being chosen by his fellow-citizens as the medium of 
expressing their sentiments to the General, called upon his 
pupils each to prepare an address. This being done, the ad- 
dress written by Mr. Adams was delivered by Mr. Parsons. 

After completing his law studies at Newburyport, Mr. Adams 
removed to the capitol of Massachusetts, with a view of em- 
ploying himself in the practice of the profession. 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 



139 



In April, 1793, on the first information that war between 
Great Britain and France had been declared, Mr. Adams pub- 
lished a short series of papers to prove that the duty and interest 
of the United States required them to remain neutral in the 
contest. These papers were published before General Wash- 
ington's proclamation of neutrality, and their opinions were in 
opposition to the ideas generally prevailing; Mr. Adams being 
first to express his views to the public on this new and difficult 
topic of national law. 

In the winter of 1793 and 1794 the public mind was agitated 
by the inflammatory appeals of the French Minister Genet. 
This influence was resisted by the powerful and skillful official 
correspondence of the then Secretary of State, Thomas Jeffer- 
son. Among those who co-operated in the public prints in the 
same patriotic cause, none was more conspicuous than Mr. 
Adams, whose essays in support of the administration were 
read and admired throughout the country. 

His reputation was now established as an American states- 
man, patriot, and political writer of the first order. Before his 
retirement from the Department of State, Mr. Jefferson recom- 
mended him to General Washington as a proper person to be 
introduced into the public service of the country. General 
Washington's own notice had been drawn to the various writ- 
ings of Mr. Adams. Thus honorably identified at the early age 
of twenty-seven with the first great and decisive steps of the 
foreign policy of the United States, and thus early attracting 
the notice and enjoying the confidence of Washington and 
Jefferson, Mr. Adams was in 1794 appointed Minister Resident 
to the Netherlands, an office corresponding in rank and salary 
with that of a Charge d' Affaires at the present day. 

Mr. Adams remained at his post in Holland until near the 
close of General Washington's administration. One of the 
latest acts of General Washington's administration was the 
appointment of Mr. Adams as Minister Plenipotentiary to 
Portugal, but on his way from the Hague to Lisbon he received 
a new commission, changing his destination to Berlin. This 
latter appointment was made by Mr. Adams' father, then 
President of the United States. Although Mr. Adams' appoint- 



140 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



ment to Portugal was made by General Washington, and Mr. 
Adams' father did no more than propose his transfer to Berlin, 
yet feelings of delicacy led him to hesitate before he even took 
this step. He consulted General Washington on the subject, 
who, in reply, gave it as his opinion that Mr. Adams was the 
most valuable public character we had abroad, and that the 
President should not withhold the merited promotion because 
of the relationship existing between them. 

The principal object of Mr. Adams' mission to Berlin was 
effected by the conclusion of a treaty of commerce with 
Eussia. During the last year of his residence in Germany, Mr. 
Adams visited Silesia, which he described in a series of letters 
published in a volume, translated in French and German, and 
extensively circulated in Europe. 

Mr. Adams' residence in Europe, from 1794 to 1801, was of 
great importance in its influence upon his political character 
and feelings. He studied the causes and effects of the great 
political movements which were taking place, and was better 
qualified to hold an impartial and truly American course 
between the violent extremes to which public opinion in 
America ran on the great question of our foreign relations in 
the war between France and England. During this critical 
period of our foreign and domestic politics, Mr. John Q. Adams 
was abroad and was not compelled to take pare in those political 
contentions which must have either placed him in opposition 
to his father or have obliged him to encounter the natural 
imputation of being biassed in support of him by filial attach- 
ment, and he returned to his native land a stranger to local 
parties but a friend to his country. 

In 1802 Mr. Adams was elected to the Senate of Massachusetts 
from the district of Boston, and signalized his fearless inde- 
pendence by his strong though ineffectual opposition to a power- 
ful combination of banking interests, of which the centre was 
placed among his immediate constitutents. 

In 1803 he was elected a Senator of the United States for six 
years. His conduct in the Senate was such as might have been 
justly expected from his position. He had neither principles to 
permit, nor passions to drive him into indiscriminate op- 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 



141 



position or blind support. Especially in the new aspect 
which the political world was assuming in consequence of 
the infraction of our neutral rights and violation of 
the sovereignty of our flag by Great Britain. Mr. 
Adams was the prompt and undeviating supporter of the honor 
of his country, and of the measures adopted by the administra- 
tion for its defense. The Legisl? ture of Massachusetts disapprov- 
ing of Mr. Adams' position, elected another person in 1808 as 
Senator from the expiration of Mr. Adams' term; and not choos- 
ing to represent constituents who had lost confidence in him, 
Mr. Adams immediately resigned his seat in the Senate. The 
decided support of a man like Mr. Adams was peculiarly ac- 
ceptable to the administration at this moment. It was a 
support given in the darkest days of Mr. Jefferson's adminis- 
tration. 

The retirement of Mr. Adams from the Senate of the United 
States did not abate the activity of his uncommon powers for 
serving his fellow men, and in 1806 he was called to the chair of 
rhetoric and oratory in the seminary where he received his 
education, and delivered a course of lectures on "The Art of 
Speaking Well," the most important art to the youth of a free 
country. 

But his country had higher claims upon his services, and in 
June, 1809, he was appointed by Mr. Madison as Minister to 
Russia. He had the good fortune here to secure the confidence 
of the Emperor Alexander, who was delighted with the contrast 
of the republican simplicity of the American Minister with the 
splendor of the foreign Envoys. This circumstance laid the 
foundation of that good- will toward America that has continued 
to this day. But its first fruit was the proffered mediation of 
Eussia, which indirectly led to peace between England and the 
United States. 

It was for this reason that he was placed by Mr. Madison at 
the head of the commission of five by which the treaty of peace 
was negotiated, and a proportionate share of the credit is due 
to him for that cogency and skill which drew from the Mar- 
quis of Wellesley, in the British House of Lords, the declaration 
that, "in his opinion, the American commission had shown 



142 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS,, 



the most astonishing superiority over the British during the 
whole of the correspondence." 

Having borne this important part in bringing the war to a 
close by an honorable peace, Mr. Adams was employed, in con- 
junction with Mr. Clay and Mr. Gallatin, in negotiating a con- 
vention of commerce with Great Britain on the basis of which 
our commercial intercourse with that country has been since 
advantageously conducted. Having been appointed our Min- 
ister at London by Mr. Madison, Mr. Adams remained in that 
place until the accession of Mr. Monroe to the Presidential 
chair. 

In reference to the formation of his Cabinet, General Jack- 
son advised Mr. Monroe to select characters most conspicuous 
for their probity, virtue, capacity and firmness, without regard 
to party. Mr. Monroe felt that the association of any of the 
Federal party in the administration would wound the feelings 
of its friends to the injury of the Republican cause. He in- 
formed General Jackson, however, in a letter, of his intention 
to select Mr. Adams for the Department of State, and in reply 
General Jackson asserted that the President could not make a 
better selection, and that Mr. Adams in the hour of difficulty 
would be an able helpmate. There seemed to be something 
almost prophetic in General Jackson's assertion, for it was not 
long before his conduct was the subject of solemn investigation 
before the grand inquest of the nation. The letters of Mr. 
Adams to the Spanish Minister, justifying the conduct of Gen- 
eral Jackson against the complaints of Spain, came seasonably 
to the support of this distinguished citizen, and effected the 
vindication of him against every charge of a violation of the 
rights of Spain. 

In performing the arduous duties of his office as Secretary of 
State, Mr. Adams received, as General Jackson had foretold 
that he would, the general approbation of the country. In 
reference to all questions of the foreign relations of the country 
he was the influential member of the Cabinet, and, more than 
any other individual composing it, was entitled to the credit of 
the measures which, during Mr. Monroe's administration, were 
adopted in reference to the foreign policy of the Government. 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 



143 



Among these were the recognition of the new republics of 
South America and the successful termination of our differ- 
ences with Spain, after a controversy of thirty years, which had 
resisted the skill of every preceding administration. 

On every important occasion and question that arose the 
voice of Mr. Adams was for his country, for mild counsels and 
for union. In the agitation of the Missouri question his influ- 
ence was exerted for conciliation. He believed that by the 
Constitution and the treaty of the session of 1803 Congress was 
birred from adopting the proposed restrictions on the admis- 
sion of Missouri. He was the friend of all internal improve- 
rrents, and to the protection of American manufactures. 

Such were his claims to the last and highest gift which the 
people can bestow on a long-tried, faithful servant. Various 
circumstances conspired to strengthen them in the Presidential 
canvass for the term beginning in 1825. In consequence of the 
number of candidates, no choice by the people was effected, 
no candidate approaching nearer than within thirty votes of 
a majority. The three persons who received the highest num- 
ber of votes for the Presidency were Andrew Jackson, John 
Quincy Adams and William H. Crawford. For the Vice- 
Presidency, John C. Calhoun received one hundred and eighty- 
two votes, and was consequently elected. The choice of the 
President, according to Constitutional provisions, fell upon the 
House of Representatives, and, contrary to all expectations, an 
election was effected at the first balloting, Mr. Adams having 
received the votes of thirteen States, General Jackson the votes 
of seven States, and Mr. Crawford the votes of four States. 
The result of the election created great surprise, and in many 
quarters great indignation. The cry of corruption and intrigue 
was raised on all sides, and it was asserted that Mr. Clay had 
sold the vote of Kentucky for the promise of place. 

On the 4th of March, 1825, Mr. Adams was inaugurated Pres- 
ident of the United States ; and being introduced into the 
Capitol, he rose and read his inaugural address, in which, 
with patriotic solemnity and pride, he spoke of the great 
work of our forefathers and the mighty changes and progress 
which had taken place in our country, and gave a brief out- 



144 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



line of his administrative policy, which, like that of his prede- 
cessor, should be : "To cherish peace while preparing for 
defensive war ; to yield exact justice to other nations and main- 
tain the rights of our own ; to cherish the principles of freedom 
and of equal rights wherever they are proclaimed ; to discharge 
with all possible promptitude the national debt ; to reduce 
within the narrowest limits of efficiency the military force ; to 
improve the organization and discipline of the army ; to provide 
and sustain a school of military science ; to extend equal pro- 
tection to all the great interests of the nation ; to promote the 
civilization of the Indian tribes, and to proceed in the great 
system of internal improvements within the limits of the Cor- 
stitution and power of the Union." 

The vacancies which were made in the Cabinet by the elec- 
tion of the Secretaries of State and of War to the Presidency 
and Vice-Presidency, and by the retirement of the Secretary of 
the Treasury, rendered it expedient to convene the Senate im- 
mediately after the dissolution of the Eighteenth Congress. 
On the 4th of March, the same day the President was inaug- 
urated, the members assembled and the Vice-President took 
the chair and addressed the Senate upon the importance of its 
duties and the immediate dependence of all the other depart- 
ments of the government upon that body. 

Aftei acting upon the credentials of new members, the 
Senate then went into the consideration of executive business, 
and confirmed the nominations made by the President for the 
several departments. Henry Clay, of Kentucky, was appointed 
Secretary of State ; Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, Secretary 
of the Treasury, and James Barbour, of Virginia, Secratary of 
War. 

To the appointment of Mr. Clay a warm opposition was made 
by a few Senators, and little doubt was left that the new 
administration was destined to meet with a systematic and 
organized opposition ; and previous to the meeting of the next 
Congress the grounds of the opposition were set forth at public 
meetings. The principal reasons of hostility to Mr. Adams 
were the assertion that his election was the result of a bargain 
between him and Mr. Clay, and his selection of Mr. Clay as 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 



145 



Secretary of State was relied upon as conclusive proof of the 
bargain ; and also that Mr. Adams was elected against the ex- 
pressed will of the people, and that Congress, by not taking 
General Jackson, the candidate having the highest number of 
votes, had violated the Constitution and disobeyed their con- 
stituents. Mr. Clay's defendants declared that, as a represent- 
ative, he was obliged to decide between three candidates for 
the Presidency, and that his vote was in accordance with all 
his previous declarations. 

During the first year of Mr. Adams' administration a 
controversy arose between the national government and the 
executive of Georgia. This controversy grew out of a compact 
made between these parties in 1802, by which the United States 
agreed to extinguish the Indian title to the lands occupied by 
them in Georgia, " whenever it could be peaceably done on 
reasonable terms." The consideration of this compact was the 
relinquishment by Georgia of her claim to the Mississippi 
Territory. There still remained in Georgia over five millions 
of acres in the possession of the Cherokees, and over four mill- 
ions held by the Creek nation. During Mr. Monroe's adminis- 
tration great effort was made to induce the Indians to dispose 
of their lands and remove from Georgia, but the Creek nation 
had been enjoying the comforts and security of civilization, 
and were unwilling to leave them. After much trouble between 
Georgia and the Indians, a negotiation was opened between the 
Indian tribes and the national government, which resulted in 
annulling the old treaty and the formation of a new one, by 
which the Creeks were allowed to retain all their lands in Ala- 
bama, and ceded all their lands in Georgia for a more liberal 
compensation than had been before stipulated, but the Georgia, 
delegation and the enemies of the administration made a fruit- 
less opposition to its ratification. 

The administration of Mr. Adams was also successful in 
making an amicable settlement with the Indians of the North- 
western States and Territories, and hostilities that had raged 
for nearly half a century almost without cessation were thus 
happily terminated. 

In September, 1825, the Marquis de Lafayette, whose course 



146 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



through the United States had been a continuous series of festi- 
vals and celebrations, took leave of our people to return home. 
It was thought proper that his final departure from the coun- 
try should take place from the Capitol, and a frigate was accord- 
ingly provided, and named in his honor the Brandy wine, to 
transport hirn-to his native country. On the invitation of Mr. 
Adams, he passed a few weeks at the Presidential mansion, 
receiving and taking leave of the distinguished men who had 
been associated with him in the struggles of the Revolution. 
On the 7th of September his departure took place with cere- 
monies that were touching and sublime, and Mr. Adams de- 
livered an address that was a most appropriate tribute to the 
parting guest. 

The first session of the Nineteenth Congress opened on the 
5th of December, 1825, and on the next day the President trans- 
mitted his message to Congress by his private secretary. The 
document presented a brief and simple examination of our 
domestic and foreign affairs, and called the attention of Con- 
gress to many important matters, including the claims of 
our merchants upon various European powers, ■ and still more 
earnestly the claims of the few survivors of our Revolutionary 
army upon their country for relief and support. 

During the session of Congress a proposed amendment to the 
Constitution was offered, providing for a uniform mode of elect- 
ing the President and Vice-President by districts, and to prevent 
the election from devolving upon Congress. A resolution pro- 
viding for the same object, by a direct vote of the people in dis- 
tricts, was brought forward at about the same time in the Sen- 
ate by Mr. Benton, of Missouri, but both of these proposed 
amendments were rejected. 

Another subject which occupied much of the attention of 
Congress, was the acceptance by the President of the invitation 
to send commissioners to the Congress of Panama. The nomi- 
nations made by the President were at length confirmed by the 
Senate, and the necessary appropriations made by the House, 
not, however, without a long and angry debate, in which many 
reflection^ were cast upon the President on account, as it was 
deemed, of his hasty acceptance of the above invitation. 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 



147 



On the 26th of May, 1826, Congress closed its session, in 
which, excepting the sanction given to the Panama mission, 
nothing of great public interest was accomplished. 

The opposition to the administration of Mr. Adams gained 
strength and development, and numerous parties combined for 
its support or overthrow in various parts of the country. A 
resolution was expressed in some quarters to put down the ad- 
ministration at every hazard, no matter what might be its 
policy, its integrity or its success. The cry of corruption was 
re-echoed by office-seekers and the more desperate portion of 
the oppositionists, until it began to gain currency with the pub- 
He, and proved sufficient to secure the downfall of the adminis- 
tration against which it was raised. The Panama mission, 
charges of extravagance, the President's assertion of his consti- 
tutional authority to appoint diplomatic agents during the vaca- 
tion of Congress, were all fruitful subjects of clamor and oppo- 
sition. 

In conformity with the views of the opposition, a nomination 
for the next Presidency was immediately made, and in Octo- 
ber, 1825, the Legislature of Tennessee recommended General 
Jackson to the suffrages of the people of the United States for 
the highest office in their gift. This nomination he formally ac- 
cepted, and in an address before the Legislature of the State 
intimated his dissatisfaction at the result of the late Presidential 
election on the ground of its corrupt origin. These charges 
were diffused with an industry and zeal paralleled only by their 
baseness. 

At length the charge of corruption was brought from a re- 
sponsible quarter, and an investigation ensued which resulted 
in the complete acquittal of thepardes accused. Directly after 
the adjournment of the Eighteenth Congress a letter appeared 
purporting to relate a conversation with General Jackson as to 
a proposition made to him by Mr. Clay's friends to secure his 
election to the Presidency, on condition that Mr. Adams should 
not be continued as Secretary of State. General Jackson dis- 
claimed any charge against Mr. Clay. Testimony was now pro- 
duced by Mr. Clay and his friends which completely refuted the 
charge of bargain and hurled it with scorn in the teeth of his 



148 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



enemies. But the accusation bad been made to answer the pur- 
pose for which it was framed, and the opposition to the ad- 
ministration bad found a permanent basis to build upon. 

But however the efforts of the opposition might embarrass 
the movements of the administration, they could not retard the 
rapid progress of the country in wealth and prosperity under 
the wise policy of Mr. Adams. The great works of internal 
improvements were prosecuted with spirit and vigor. Routes 
for roads and canals were surveyed, the navigation of rivers 
improved, lighthouses and piers were built, and obstructions 
from bays and harbors removed. 

Congress having adjourned without passing any law for the 
purpose of meeting the restrictive measures of the British Gov- 
ernment in respect to the colonial trade, the President issued a 
proclamation dated March 17, closing the ports of the United 
States against vessels from the British colonies, which had been 
opened by the act of 1822. By this act the British restrictions 
were completely reciprocated and the President was sustained 
in it by public opinion. 

The second session of the Nineteenth Congress commenced on 
the 4th of December, 1826, and the message of the President 
ably mentioned all important matters and events. 

The Creek controversy, which should have been happily set- 
tled by the treaty of April 22, again loomed up. The Gov- 
ernor of Georgia ordered the surveyors employed by him to begin 
the survey of the Indian lands, previous to the time prescribed 
by the treaty for the removal. This the Indians resisted, 
and the Governor ordered out a force of militia. In this 
posture of affairs the President determined to support the laws 
of the Union by the authority which the Constitution had placed 
in his hands, previously submitting the affair to Congress in a 
message, in which he gave a plain statement of the facts, and 
declared Ms determination to enforce the laws and fulfill the 
duties of the nation by all the force committed for that purpose 
to his charge. 

Great excitement was displayed in both houses on the 
receipt of this message. Congress sustained the President in 
his position, and his firmness brought the Governor of Georgia 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 



149 



to reason, and he addressed a letter to the delegation of that 
State afc Washington, submitting to the decision of Congress 0 

Space does not permit of a more detailed account of the vari- 
ous measures of Mr. Adams' administration. During the whole 
of it the United States enjoyed uninterrupted peace ; for the 
foreign policy of the government had nothing in view but the 
maintenance of our national dignity, the extension of our com- 
mercial relations and the successful prosecution of the claims 
of American citizens upon foreign governments. 

In the condition which we have described, at peace with all 
the world, with an increasing revenue and with a large surplus 
in the Treasury, the administration of the government of the 
United States was surrendered by Mr. Adams to General Jack- 
son, his successor. 

Thus ended the administration of Mr. Adams, an administra- 
tion marked by definite and consistent policy, and energetic 
councils, governed by upright motives, but from the beginning 
the object of the most violent opposition, resulting in a signal 
overthrow. The election which terminated in the defeat of 
Mr. Adams, was marked with extreme bitterness, asperity and 
profligacy. On both sides the press was virulent, libelous and 
mean. The brave soldier was described as a malignant savage, 
and the experienced statesman as a man who had purchased by 
intrigue that which he was determined to hold by corruption. 

After returning to his home Mr. Adams still took an active 
part in public affairs, and represented his native district in 
Congress, where until his death he took the firm and able stand 
to which his eminent talents and distinguished services fully 
entitled him. During the last days of his public services he 
had grown very feeble and infirm, and during the session of 
February, 1848, while making a speech in Congress, he was 
attacked by fatal illness, and without being removed from the 
Capitol he quietly breathed his last, and ended one of the 
noblest, ablest and most patriotic lives ever devoted to any 
country. 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



Andrew Jackson, that rough and rugged representative 
American, was born on the 15th of March, 1767. His father 
was an Irishman, who landed at Charleston, South Carolina, 
in 1765, and settled at Waxaw, where the subject of our narra- 
tive was born. Soon after his birth his father died, leaving 
three sons to be provided for by their mother. She appears to 
have discharged the duties in an exemplary manner, and 
Andrew, whom she intended for the ministry, was sent to 
school, where he continued until the war of the Be volution 
interrupted his studies. 

At the age of fourteen Andrew Jackson and his brother, 
Eobert, entered the American camp in the service of their coun- 
try. Even at this early age the unyielding and independent 
obstinacy of his character was developed. In an attack of the 
British on Waxaw eleven Americans had been taken prisoners, 
and among them were the two Jacksons. The evening after 
their capture Andrew was accosted by a British officer, who 
ordered him in an imperious tone to clean his boots. This order 
he scornfully refused to obey, alleging that he expected only 
such treatment as was due to a prisoner of war. Incensed at 
his reply, the officer aimed a blow at his head with a drawn 
sword, which the boy parried by throwing up his left hand, not, 
however, without receiving a wound, of which the scar re- 
mained until his death. His brother, for a similar cause, 
received a deep and dangerous cut on the head. The brothers 
were conveyed to jail, where their wounds were wholly 
neglected. That of Andrew was slight, but his brother's brought 
on an inflammation of the brain which, a few days after his 
liberation, ended in death. They were soon exchanged and 
returned to their mother, who died shortly after her son. 



152 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Andrew Jackson was thus left alone in the world, afflicted with 
disease brought on by the hardships he had undergone, and with 
the small-pox, which broke out on him at the same time. 

On his recovery he injudiciously began to squander his estate, 
but at length, foreseeing the consequences of his extravagance, 
he betook himself to a regular course of study, acquiring some 
knowledge of classics and continuing his literary pursuits until 
he reached the age of eighteen. He commenced the study of 
law in 1784, at Salisbury, in North Carolina. At the end of 
two years he obtained a license from the Judges to practice 
law. 

After remaining in the State until 1788, he decided that that 
locality presented few inducements to a young attorney. The 
western part of Tennessee about this time offered alluring 
prospects to young adventurers, and there we find Jackson soon 
after his departure from North Carolina. He took up his resi- 
dence at Nashville. There was but one lawyer in the county, 
and the knavish part of the community had so contrived as 
to retain him in their interest ; many merchants thereby being 
deprived of the means of enforcing payment of their honest 
dues. 

Jackson's advent was hailed with delight, and the morning 
after he arrived he issued seventy writs. His presence soon 
became a terror to the debtors in the place. Soon afterward he 
was appointed Attorney-General for the district. At this time 
Indian depredations were frequent on the Cumberland, and 
Jackson was accustomed to aid actively in garrisoning the forts 
and in pursuing and chastising the savages. In 1796 he was 
chosen a member of the convention for framing a Constitution 
for the State. He was the same year elected a member of the 
House of Representatives in Congress for the State of Tennes- 
see. In Tennessee his popularity continued to increase, and in 
1 797 he was elected to the United States Senate. Soon after 
taking his seat he asked leave to return home on private busi- 
ness, and before the next session he resigned his seat, being at 
that time little more than thirty years of age. 

On his return to Tennessee he was appointed major general 
of the State militia, which commission he held until the year 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



153 



1814. Soon after his resignation of his seat in the Senate he 
was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of the State. 

Congress, by the acts of February and July, 1812, authorized 
the President to accept the services of fifty thousand volun- 
teers. Subject to this order General Jackson raised twenty- 
five hundred men, and after being duly authorized under his 
command and armed and equipped for war, he assembled them 
at Nashville, and they descended the Mississippi to Natchez. 
But as there was no appearance of war in the Southwest their 
services were not needed, and General Jackson received an or- 
der from the Secretary of War to disband his troops and de- 
liver the public property in his possession to General Wilkin- 
son. This order General Jackson belie ved it proper to disobey, 
and in spite of all opposition he marched his troops homeward 
through the forests, sharing their hardships and setting them 
an example of untiring patience and perseverance. At the 
close of his march he disbanded his men, who returned to their 
homes. In a letter to the Secretary of War, he explained that 
had he dismissed his forces on receiving the order, the sick 
would have suffered and many would have been compelled by 
want to enlist in the regular service. His sensible conduct was 
approved, and the expenses incurred were paid by the Gov- 
ernment. 

Peaceful repose in the Southwest, however, was not of long 
duration. The Creek Indians were manifesting strong symp- 
toms of hostility toward the United States. This disposition 
was strengthened through means used by the Northern Indians, 
who were then making preparations for a war against the United 
States, and Tecumseh was despatched to the Southern Indians 
to kindle in them the same spirit, and frequent depredations 
were committed on the border settlers. By one of the incur- 
sions in the summer of 1812, several families had been mur- 
dered in a shocking manner near the mouth of the Ohio, and 
shortly after another party, entering the limits of Tennessee, 
had butchered two families of women and children. Soon 
after this the Indians proceeded to mike an attack on Fort 
Mimms, in the territory of Mississippi. This fort contained at 
that time about one hundred and fifty men, besides a consider- 



154 



LIVES OF OUB PRESIDENTS. 



able number of women and children, who had fled there for pro- 
tection. The Indians carried it by assault. The slaughter was 
indiscriminate. Nearly three hundred persons, including 
women and children, were put to death with the most savage 
barbarity. Bat seventeen of the whole number in the fort 
escaped to tell of the dreadful catastrophe. 

Great excitement was produced in Tennessee by the news of 
this outrage, and the citizens, after consultation with the Gov- 
ernor and General Jackson, proposed to march at once into the 
heart of the Creek nation, and the Legislature of the State 
authorized the Executive to call into the field three thousand 
five hundred of the militia. By order of the Governor, General 
Jackson, though suffering from a fractured arm, called out two 
thousand of the volunteers and militia of his division. To this 
force was joined five hundred horsemen under Colonel Coffee, 
to which were to be added all the mounted riflemen that he 
could gather, and preparations were made for a vigorous cam- 
paign. The soldiers went at once into camp. 

On the 7th of October, General Jackson joined his division 
and learned that the Creeks had detached upward of eight hun- 
dred of their warriors to fall upon the frontier of Georgia, 
while the remainder of their force were marching on Hunts- 
ville. On the 9th, therefore, he set his army in motion and 
reached Huntsville that day by a forced march, forming a 
junction the next day with Colonel Coffee's regiment on the 
Tennessee River. Here they rested while scouts were sent to 
reconnoitre the Black Warrior River, on which were several 
Creek villages. While thus waiting a messenger arrived from 
Chinnaby, a chief of the friendly Creeks. He brought intelli- 
gence that Chinnaby' s camp was threatened by the enemy and 
solicited aid. This induced General Jackson to move toward 
Chinnaby's camp. Near Ten Islands he was met by the chief, 
who informed him that he was within sixteen miles of the hos- 
tile Creeks, who were assembled to the number of a thousand 
to oppose his march. Colonel Dyer was then sent forward to 
attack the village of Littafutchee, on the Coosa, which he suc- 
cessfully accomplished, having burned the village and brought 
back a number of prisoners. The scouting parties now began 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



155 



to bring in prisoners and cattle and corn taken from the enemy, 
and reported that Chinnaby's statement was unfounded. 

The first week in November information was received that a 
body of the Muscogee warriors had taken a position at the vil- 
lage of Tallushatches, and Colonel Coffee was sent to attack 
them with nine hundred mounted men, who, after a feint to 
draw out the savages, charged them, and after a most desperate 
fight the Tennesseeans revenged the slaughter of Fort Mimms 
by slaying all the men and some women and children. Not one 
of the savages escaped. Over one hundred and eighty were 
killed, and eighty-four women and children were taken alive. 
Of the whites, only five were killed and forty-one wounded. 

On the evening of the 7th a messenger arrived from Talladega, 
a fort of the friendly Indians, thirty miles below, with informa- 
tion that the enemy had encamped before it, and would destroy 
it unless assistance should be immediately rendered. Jackson 
at once marched to their assistance with all his available 
force, amounting to twelve hundred infantry and eight 
hundred mounted men. Crossing the river that night, the 
army marched with unabated ardor, and by the next 
evening were within six miles of the enemy. At four 
in the morning the army moved in order of battle. By 
seven o'clock, they were within a mile of the enemy, and 
after drawing the Indians from their cover, who, rushing tom- 
ahawk in hand upon the advance guard, drove them back and 
fell furiously on the left wing, General Jackson, rallying the 
companies which had fallen into disorder, checked the advance 
of the savages. The line now delivered an unbroken fire, and 
in fifteen minutes the Creeks gave way at all points and fled. 
The cavalry pursued them for three miles and made great 
daughter. In this battle, a thousand and eighty of the Creeks 
were engaged, of whom about six hundred were slain. The 
loss of the whites was fifteen killed and nearly one hun- 
dred wounded. Thus were the friendly Indians at Talla- 
dega relieved, and the hostile Creeks terribly punished. 

After this, the army suffered terribly for food, owing to the 
failure of the commissary stores to reach them, until Jackson 
himself was even reduced to a diet of acorns, and mutiny 



156 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



broke out in the camp, which was only suppressed through the 
greatest firmness of the commander. 

About the 22d of November, a deputation arrived from the 
Creek tribes, called Hillabees, to sue for peace. They had suf- 
fered severely at Talladega and were ready to submit to any 
terms. General Jackson replied that they must restore the 
prisoners and property they had taken, whether from the 
whites or the friendly Creeks, and surrender the persons 
concerned in the massacre at Fort Mimms. With this answer 
the Hillabee ambassadors returned to their villages on the 
24th of the month. But that very night the Hillabees were 
attacked in their huts by the Tennessee militia, under General 
White. Sixty of them were killed, upward of two hundred 
and fifty were made prisoners, and their villages were utterly 
destroyed. The officers of the Eastern division were jealous of 
General Jackson's popularity and had refused to co-operate 
with him. The Hillabees, believing that they had been attacked 
by General Jackson after their overtures of peace, waged a war 
of extermination from that time until the cessation of hostili- 
ties. 

General Jackson about this time was called upon to exercise 
the greatest firmness and bravery in preventing the troops from 
marching home. On a number of occasions he stood before 
revolted troops with his cocked pistol, and by the threat of 
shooting the first man who moved, prevented the success of sev- 
eral mutinies. 

In the meantime the Muscogees were sustaining great reverses. 
On the 4th of December they w r ere defeated by the Georgia 
militia at Autossee, on the Tallapoosa River, where upward of 
two hundred of the savage warriors were slain and two villages 
destroyed. General Claiborne also destroyed the town of Ec- 
cancacha, and routed its defenders with loss, on the 1st of Jan- 
uary, 1814. 

On the 13th of January eight hundred and fifty of the newly- 
raised Tennessee volunteers arrived at Fort Strother. They were 
organized in two mounted regiments, and two days after took 
up the line of march for Talladega, followed by General Jack- 
son with his staff, an artillery company, three companies of in- 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



157 



fantry and a company of volunteer officers, making about one 
thousand troops in all. At Talladega they were joined by two 
or three hundred friendly Creeks and Cherokees. With this 
force Jackson marched to the Emuckfaw River, where a large 
body of the enemy had collected. 

At daybreak the next morning, the Creek warriors drove in 
the sentinels and vigorously charged the left flank. The as- 
sault was fiercely given, but when light broke, a general charge 
forced the Muscogees at every point, and in the pursuit the 
slaughter was considerable. 

The next day the army com Tien ced its return to Fort Stroth- 
er. On the line of march there was a defile between two 
hills where a small stream was to be crossed, a place every way 
fitted for an ambuscade. General Jackson was too good a 
soldier to be taken at disadvantage in such a place, so he re- 
solved to cross the stream at another ford where there was no 
lurking place for the wily savage. He had just begun crossing 
the stream when the enemy charged the rear guard. For a 
time the troops fell into disorder, and were in great danger of a 
wholesale massacre. The Muscogees were swarming like bees, 
and for a time there was none to withstand them but the left 
wing, the artillery, a company of spies and a few of the rear 
guard. The repeated charges of grape from the artillery kept 
the savages at bay until General Jackson could rally his troops, 
and at last the Muscogees fled in great disorder, leaving one 
hundred and ninety dead on the field, besides about an equal 
number carried away, and the wounded, whose number could 
not be ascertained. Soon after this, however, they attacked 
General Floyd, but were repulsed with considerable loss. 

On the return to Fort Strother, General Jackson, hearing that 
fresh troops were expected from Tennessee, where the news of 
his success had much effect, determined to discharge his troops 
as soon as he could furnish them transportation home. The 
Thirty-ninth Regiment of Tennessee Militia arrived on the 6th 
of February, and the troops from the Second Division, under 
Brigadier- General Johnson, arrived on the 14th, which, added 
to the other forces, constituted about five thousand efficient 
men. After more trouble of insubordination and discontent, 



158 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



General Jackson got the army in good fighting condition and 
secured such supplies as enabled him to move at once. At the 
mouth of Cedar Creek he established Fort Williams, and leav- 
ing Brigadier-General Johnson with a force for its protection, 
he set out for the Tallapoosa with a force of about three thou- 
sand men. On the morning of the 27th he reached the village 
of Tohopeka, where the enemy had collected to the number of 
about twelve hundred to give him battle. They had chosen an 
admirable spot for defense. Situated in a bend of the river, 
which almost surrounded it, it was accessible only by a narrow 
neck of land. Here they had placed large timbers and trunks 
of trees horizontally on each other, leaving but one place of 
entrance. From a double row of port-holes they were enabled 
to fire in perfect security behind it. To divert the savages 
from the real point of danger and prevent their escape in their 
canoes to the opposite shore, General Coffee, with mounted 
infantry and friendly Indians, had been despatched early in the 
morning to encircle the bend. The General posted the rest of 
his army in front of the breastworks, which he began to battle 
with his cannon, while muskets and rifles were used as the 
Indians occasionally showed themselves. As soon as the signal 
announced that General Coffee had gained his destination, the 
soldiers, with wild enthusiasm, rushed forward through sheets 
of fire and leaden hail to charge the ramparts. Here an 
obstinate and destructive conflict ensued, in which Major Mont- 
gomery was shot dead ; but scarcely had he fallen before the 
troops had carried the breastworks and the savages fled before 
them, concealing themselves under the thick brush and timber, 
from which they poured a galling fire. Dislodged from their 
position, they rushed for their canoes, but to their consternation 
found the army lining the opposite shore and precluding escape 
in that quarter The survivors then hid under the fallen tim- 
ber on the river bank, from which they were driven out by fire 
from lighted torches, which set the dry brush in a fierce blaze, 
and the slaughter continued until but few of the savages were 
left to escape in the night. 

This battle gave a death-blow to the hopes of the hostile In- 
dians, and they did not again venture to make a decided stand. 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



159 



Their best and bravest fell, and few escaped the carnage. Five 
hundred and fifty-seven were found dead on the field, besides 
those drowned in the river. Four men only and three hundred 
women and children were taken prisoners. Our loss, including 
the friendly Indians, was fifty-five killed and one hundred and 
forty-six wounded. 

Learning that the savages were in considerable numbers at 
Hoithlewalee, Jackson immediately took up his march to con- 
tinue his victories and crush out the war spirit of the Indians 
as speedily as possible. But high water prevented his reaching 
his destination until the enemy had fled. He, however, cap- 
tured twenty-five savages from the rear of their retreat. 

The next day the long-desired junction with the southern 
army was effected, and almost immediately after the principal 
chiefs of the Hickory ground tribes and the Creek chiefs came 
in with protestations of friendship and sued for peace. It had 
been expected that the Indians would make a desperate stand 
at the Hickory ground in the forks near where the Coosa and 
Tallapoosa unite. 

The army then continued its march to old Toulosse Fort, on 
the Coosa. Here the hostile chiefs arrived daily with proffers 
of submission, those who were still opposed to peace having fled 
to the Gulf coast and Pensacola. 

Thus ended the Creek War, in which General Jackson had so 
successfully crushed out the cruelties and butcheries of the 
savages, which for more than twenty years the Creeks had been 
perpetrating on our border — in fact ever since they had allied 
themselves to Great Britain in the Eevolutionary War. 

On the 22d of May, 1814, General Jackson received the appoint- 
ment of United States Major- General. He was also associated 
with the commissioners for forming a treaty of peace and of 
limits with the Creek Indians. In the meeting with the Indians 
General Jackson made a decisive speech in answer to that of 
Big Warrior, upon which the Indians deliberated over the 
treaty and signed it. This treaty ceded to the Indians one hun- 
dred and fifty thousand square miles, a large and valuable body 
of lands in Tennessee and Southern Kentucky known as Jack- 
son's Purchase. But as soon as the treaty was signed the 



160 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Chickasaws, Choctaws and Cherokees set up claims each to 
their particular share of the ceded lands. The Government at 
length purchased their title at an expense of about three hun- 
dred and fifty thousand dollars. 

General Jackson had now leisure to extend his thoughts to 
Florida. The Spanish Governor of the Floridas had forfeited 
all claims to his professed neutral character by the supplies of 
ammunitions and aid so liberally furnished to the hostile Indians. 
During his journey to Alabama, General Jackson received 
information that about three hundred British troops had 
landed and were fortifying themselves at the mouth of the 
_4palachicola Kiver, and were endeavoring to excite the 
Indians to war. He immediately acquainted the Government 
of the fact, and requested permission to make a descent upon 
Pensacola, and reduce it. Jackson next wrote sternly and 
decisively to the Spanish Governor, demanding the giving up 
of the hostile savages in his country. In reply the Governor 
denied some of the charges, and endeavored to palliate others 
by accusing our Government of having harbored traitors from 
the Mexican provinces, and of countenancing pirates who 
plundered Spanish commerce. The General replied to this 
letter by another, from which we select the following vigorous 
paragraphs : 

"Your Excellency has been candid enough to admit your having supplied 
the Indians with arms. In addition to this, I have learned that a British 
flag has been seen flying on one of your forts. All this is done while you 
pretend to be neutral. You cannot be surprised then, but on the contrary 
will provide a fort in your town for my soldieis and Indians should I take it 
in my head to pay you a visit. 

'•In future, I beg you to withhold your insulting charges against my Gov- 
ernment for one more inclined to listen to slander than I am ; nor consider 
me any more a diplomatic character, unless so proclaimed to you from the 
mouths of my cannon." 

Captain Gordon, who had been sent to Pensacola, reported on 
his return that he had seen some two hundred soldiers and 
officers, a park of artillery and about five hundred Indians 
under the drill of British officers, armed with new muskets and 
dressed in the English uniform. 

Jackson laid before the Government this information and 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



161 



again urged his favorite scheme of the reduction of Pensacola, 
and in order to have everything in readiness when the t*me of 
action should arrive, he addressed the Governors of Tennessee, 
Louisiana and the Mississippi Territory, and urged them to lend 
all the aid io their pDwer. He also ordered the warriors of the 
different tribes of Indians to be marshaled and taken into the 
pay of the Government. 

General Jackson then departed for Mobile, to place the coun- 
try in a state of defense. He dispatched Colonel Butler to 
Tennessee to raise volunteers, and ordered General Coffee to 
advance with such mounted men as he could collect. 

Events soon transpired which confirmed Jackson in his inten- 
tion of marching against Pensacola, although he had not 
received permission from the Government to do so. Colonel 
Nicholls, with a small squadron of British ships, arrived at Pen- 
sacola, where the hospitalities of the Spanish Governor were 
extended to him. Here he issued a proclamation for the pur- 
pose of drawing deserters from the American side to his stand- 
ard. After waiting two weeks for bis proclamation to influence 
its readers, he made an attack on Fort Bowyer, at the entrance 
of Mobile Bay, but was defeated with the loss of his best ship 
and one of his eyes. 

General Jackson, seeing the importance of Fort Bowyer, had 
put it in a state of defense. The attack from the sea was made 
with six hundred men and ninety heavy guns, while four hun- 
dred Indians and other troops attacked it from the rear. This 
force was defeated by Major Lawrence and one hundred and 
thirty men in the fort, with a loss to the enemy of one ship and 
two hundred and thirty men killed and wounded. The loss of 
the Americans did not exceed ten men. 

The British returned to Pensacola to refit and make a descent 
on some weaker point, Jackson now resolved to undertake the 
capture of Pensacola on his own responsibility, and awaited only 
the arrival of General Coffee, who soon came with the reinforce- 
ments, and on the second day of November the line of march 
was taken up. On the 6th the American army, consisting in all 
of about three thousand men, arrived at Pensacola, where the 
British, and Spaniards had made preparations for resistance. 



162 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Jackson made an attempt at negotiation and dispatched 
Major Piere with a flag of truce, which was fired on. General 
Jackson then dispatcher another letter to the Governor by a 
Spanish officer who had been taken the day before. An answer 
was received stating that the above outrage was properly 
chargeable to the English, and that the Governor was ready to 
listen to whatever overtures the American General might 
make. In reply, Jackson wrote as follows : 

"I come not as the enemy of Spain, not to make war, but to ask for 
peace; to demand security for my country, and that respect to which fihe is 
entitled and must receive. My force is sufficient, an l my determination 
taken to prevent a future repetition of the injuries she has received. I de- 
mand, therefore, the possession of the Barrancas, and other fortifications, 
witn all your munitions of war. If delivered peaceably, the whole will be re- 
ceipted for and become th^ subject of future arrange-neufc by our respective 
governments, while the property, laws and religion of your citizens shall be 
respected. But. if taken by an appeal to arms, let the blood of your subjects 
be upon your own head. I will not hold myself responsible for the conduct 
of my enrag( d soldiers. One hour is given you for deliberation, when your 
determination must be had. " 

This proposition was rejected, and Jackson, early on the morn- 
ing of the 7th, put his troops in motion. To favor the idea Jhat 
he would reach the town by the road along which he had been 
encamped, he sent a detachment of five hundred men, with 
orders to show themselves in that direction, while with the 
strength of the army he rapidly approached Pensacola in 
another direction. The stratagem succeeded. The Brit^h had 
formed their vessels across the bay and were waiting his 
approach with the most praiseworthy patience from the point 
where the detachment had been seen. Suddenly our troops 
were descried on the beach on the east side, where it was impos- 
sible for the flotilla to annoy them. 

They pushed forward, and were soon in the streets and shel- 
tered by the houses. Panic-stricken, the Governor hastened 
with a flag of truce, and he promised an immediate surrender 
of the town, the arsenals and the munitions of war. 

Everything was in readiness the next day to take possession 
of Barrancas. Our troops were approaching the place when a 
tremendous explosion gave notice that all was destroyed. The 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



168 



fort was blown up and the British shipping had retired from 
the bay. 

General Jackson was now anxious to depart for New 
Orleans, believing that a large British fleet would soon appear 
on the coast. After certain necessary dispositions of the troops 
Jackson left Mobile on the 22d of November, and on the 1st of 
December established his headquarters at New Orleans. 

In the meantime orders were issued by the Secretary of War 
to the Governors of the adjoining States to hasten forward 
their quotas of men and supplies. Kentucky and Tennessee 
promptly responded. 

The Legislature of Louisiana had been for some weeks in ses- 
sion, but had not yet arrived at any definite decision. The ar- 
rival of Jackson infused new vigor into the public measures. 
He reviewed the volunteer corps of the city, visited the different 
forts and inspected the avenues to the city, and the forts were 
pat in the best possible condition, and every precaution was 
taken to guard and defend the passes, but treachery at last 
pointed out to the enemy a narrow pass through which they 
effected a landing, and reached, undiscovered, the banks of the 
Mississippi. 

As soon as information was received that the English fleet 
was approaching, Lieutenant Jones, with his gunboats, was or- 
dered to i econnoitre and ascertain their disposition and force. 
This resulted in an engagement wherein our gunboats were 
compelled to surrender, after a fierce contest, in which the 
American loss was ten killed and thirty-five wounded, while 
the loss of the British could not have been less than three hun- 
dred, nearly two hundred of whom were drowned in an attempt 
to board the gunboats. 

When it was announced in New Orleans that the British had 
disembarked, all was panic among the citizens, notwithstanding 
the preparations of the General. On the night of the 2zd the 
enemy effected a landing at Bayou Bienvenue, a lagoon stretch- 
ing to within fifteen miles of New Orleans. Jackson resolved 
to advance and give them battle that night. He arrived in 
sight of the enemy a little before dark. The schooner Caroline 
was ordered to drop down opposite the enemy's position, where 



1M 



LIVES OF OVTX PRESIDENTS. 



she was to anchor and deliver her fire. This was to be the 
signal for a general attack. The British were forced by the 
Caroline's guns to retire three hundred yards in rear of their 
first position. This brought them in contact with General 
Coffee's force, who opened a fire so destructive that the enemy 
gave way, but soon rallied again. While the left wing was 
thus engaged General Jackson attacked the enemy's left flank. 
The British had gained a favorable position between two levees 
or embankments which had been raised to resist the encroach- 
ments of the Mississippi. In this sheltered position Jackson 
fought them for half an hour, when, a dense fog arising, he 
judged it prudent to discontinue the contest. 

Ascertaining that the force of the enemy was about six 
thousand men, which greatly exceeded any force which Jack- 
son could bring against them, he resolved to forbear all further 
efforts until the Kentucky troops should arrive. He fell back 
and formed his line behind a deep ditch that ran at right angles 
with the river, and was defended on the left by an almost im- 
passable swamp. To put this position in proper defense, bales 
of cotton in great numbers were drawn from the city and 
placed so as to form an almost impenetrable bulwark. 

On the 23th the British columns advanced on our works, 
apparently with the intention of storming them. Sir Edward 
Packenham commanded in person. At the distance of half a 
mile they opened their heavy artillery upon us, but after per- 
severing in their attack for seven hours, the British abandoned 
the unavailing contest. The armed sloop Louisiana had also 
opened fire upon them and withstood all their efforts to silence 
her. 

About this time Jackson was very much incensed at hearing 
that the Legislature of Louisiana thought of offering terms of 
capitulation to the enemy in case our army was defeated, and 
he sent orders to Governor Claiborne to confine the representa- 
tives in their Chamber the moment such a proposition was dis- 
cussed. On receiving this order the Governor coolly marched 
an armed force to the hall of the Legislature and unceremo- 
niously expelled the members at the point of the bayonet. 
Jackson's real intention, if defeated, was to have retreated to 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



165 



the city, fired it and fought the enemy amidst the surrounding 
flames. "I would," said he, "have destroyed New Orleans, 
occupied a position above on the river, cut off all supplies, and 
in this way have compelled them to leave the country." 

On the 8th of January, with the dawn, the enemy's signals 
for movement were descried. The charge that followed was 
so rapid that the troops on the outposts fled in with difficulty. 
Showers of bombs and balls poured in upon our lines, while the 
air blazed with Congreve rockets. Packenham commanded 
in person, supported by Generals Keane and Gibbs, and a thick 
fog enabled them to approach near our intrenchments before 
they were discovered. Our troops on descrying them, gave 
three cheers and poured upon them a sheet of fire from the whole 
line. It was accompanied by a burst of artillery which 
swept down their front. From the musketry, there was a con- 
tinuous volley. Nothing could surpass the horror of the scene 
before them, and Sir Edward Packenham hastened to the front 
and endeavored to rally the wavering ranks of his veterans, in 
which position he fell, mortally wounded, near our lines. 
Scarcely had Packenham received his death wound before the 
officer next in command was shot down. Again and again 
were they led by their officers over the thickly strewn bodies of 
their comrades to receive the same fate. So dreadful was the 
destruction that they could hardly close the gaps in their ranks 
as fast as they were made. At last they lost heart, and broke 
and fled, and their defeat was as signal as it was fatal. 

The loss of the British in the main attack has been variously 
estimated. The killed, wounded and prisoners, as ascertained 
by Colonel Hayne, our Inspector-General, the day after the 
battle, amounted to two thousand six hundred. The Amer- 
ican loss in killed and wounded was only thirteen. Our ef- 
fective force on the line was short of three thousand, that of the 
enemy engaged was at least nine thousand. 

After this the enemy made a great effort to bring their fleet 
up the river, and a violent attack was made on Fort St. Philip, 
but they were so gallantly repulsed by the garrison that they for- 
sook their camp and took refuge on board their ships. On the 
10th of February news of peace was received at New Orleans. 



166 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Thus ended the much talked of battle of New Orleans. At 
the close of the contest, General Jackson delivered an able 
address to the soldiers and citizens, in which he recounted the 
glorious acts of bravery of his men and complimented them on 
their undaunted courage, their patriotism and patience under 
hardships and fatigues, and gave a most glowing description of 
the contest, which, in point of numbers, stands tc-day one of 
the most brilliant victories for our side and signal defeats for 
the enemy on record. 

General Jackson was received at New Orleans on his return 
with the greatest enthusiasm, and the 23d of January was 
appointed a day of thanksgiving, and a grand procession 
marched in his honor. 

During martial law in the city Jackson had arrested a mem- 
ber of the Legislature named Louallier on a charge of exciting 
mutiny among his troops by a publication in a newspaper. Loual- 
lier applied to Judge Hall for a writ of habeas corpus, which was 
immediately issued. Instead, however, of acting in obedience 
to the writ, Jackson arrested the Judge, and turned him out of 
the city. On being restored to the exercise of his functions 
Judge Hall granted a rule of court for General Jackson to 
appear and show cause why an attachment for contempt should 
not be awarded against him. Jackson made a long defense, but 
by the decision of the court he was fined one thousand dollars. 
But popular feeling ran so strongly that no sooner was the 
judgment pronounced than the populace filled the streets with 
huzzas for Jackson, and after drawing him in a carriage by 
hand through the streets they raised the thousand dollars by 
subscription to pay his fine, but Jackson preferred the satisfac- 
tion of paying it himself. 

On the 18th of May, 1815, General Jackson arrived in Nash- 
ville and received an ovation from the citizens, and the Legis- 
lature of Tennessee passed a vote of thanks and presented him 
with a gold medal. He was soon after appointed Commander- 
in-Chief of the Southern Division. 

In the fall of 1815 Jackson visited the seat of government 
and received great demonstrations of respect on his route. At 
Lynchburg, in Virginia, at a public dinner in his honor, Thomas 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



167 



Jefferson gave the following toast : " Honor and gratitude to 
the man who has filled the measure of his country's glory." 

In the spring of 1816 Jackson again visited New Orleans, and 
after stationing the army in the southern section of his division, 
lie concluded a treaty with the Indians for securing from them 
the absolute relinquishment of all the claims they pretended to 
have to lands within the limits of the Doited States. 

To prevent the depredations of the Seminole Indians on our 
southern frontiers, three forts were built, and General Gaines 
proceeded to expel the Indians. In the consequent skirmishes 
a party of men, under Lieutenant Scott, fell into an ambuscade 
of the savages and were all slain but six, who escaped. On 
hearing this General Jackson raised an army of two thousand 
five hundred volunteers and marched upon the Mickasucky 
villages, which he burned on finding th?m deserted, and 
marched to St. Marks, a Spanish port, on Apalachy Bay. Here 
he arrested a Scotchman, an Indian trader, and a British Lieu- 
tenant of marines, whom he accused of exciting the Indians to 
hostility against the United States and supplying them with the 
means of war. They were tried by a court martial and sen- 
tenced to be hanged. 

General Jackson then marched to Escambia, near Pensacola, 
in the face of a remonstrance from the Spanish Governor, and 
hearing that a party of fugitive Indians had passed through 
the town, he resolved to follow them. Jackson took possession 
of the place on the 24th, and the next day commenced offen- 
sive operations against Fort Barrancas, which was finally sur- 
rendered. In a letter to the Secretary of War Jackson justified 
his conduct on the ground that Spain allowed the Indian tribes 
within her borders to visit our citizens with all the horrors of 
savage war, and that foreign agents were openly and know- 
ingly practicing their intrigues in this neutral territory. " The 
immutable principle, therefore, of self-defense," said Jackson, 
''justified the occupancy of Florida, and the same principle 
will warrant the American Government in holding it until 
such time as Spain can guarantee by an adequate military 
force the maintaining her authority within the colony. " 

At the close of the Seminole campaign. General Jackson r§- 



168 



LIVES OF OUIt PRESIDENTS. 



turned to Nashville. From this period until the summer of 
1821 nothing particularly worthy of remark occurred to him. 
Florida was, by the treaty, to be ceded in August, and in June 
he was appointed Governor of the whole territory. The Spanish 
officers yielded their several commands on the day appointed 
by the treaty. The new Governor, however, did not assume 
his command in perfect harmony and serenity. There were 
certain documents which the Spanish Governor Callava re- 
tained in his possession. On refusal to surrender them, Jack- 
son ordered him taken into custody by an armed guard and 
committed to piison. On the next day a search warrant for 
papers was issued, upon which they were obtained, and Callava 
was released. 

Becoming weary of his situation as Governor, Jackson re- 
signed his office and returned to Nashville. In May, 1822, he 
was nominated by the Legislature of Tennessee a candidate for 
the Presidency. He was elected in the autumn of the same year 
to the United States Senate. 

The Presidential campaign was an exciting one. The candi- 
dates were John Quiney Adams of the North, Andrew Jackson 
and Henry Clay of the West, and Crawford and Calhoun of the 
South,but Mr. Calhoun withdrawing, the contest was maintained 
between the other candidates. General Jackson received 
ninety-nine electoral votes ; J. Q. Adams, eighty-four ; W. H. 
Crawford, forty-one ; and Henry Clay, thirty-seven. No candi- 
date receiving the majority necessary to a choice, the election 
devolved upon the House of Representatives, where Mr. Clay 
avowed himself in favor of Mr. Adams, and his friends follow- 
ing his example, Mr. Adams was elected. 

During the political excitement in relation to the Presidency, 
General Lafayette, who wa3 making his memorable tour through 
the United States, became the guest of General Jackson at his 
residence, near Nashville, where ho was highly pleased with 
the simplicity of the General's life at home. 

In October, 1825, General Jackson was again nominated by 
the Legislature of Tennessee a candidate for the Presidency. 
He soon after resigned his seat in the United States Senate, and 
retired to private life. In J£ay, 182Q S he was nominated for the 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



169 



Presidency by a meeting of citizens in Philadelphia, and active 
measures were taken by his friends to insure his success. 

In the autumn cf 1S38 the election took place, and the result 
was the choice of General Jackson as President of the United 
States. Before departing for the seat of government he met 
with a severe affliction in the death of Mrs. Jackson, which bore 
heavily upon him for some time. 

Towards the close cf January, 1829, General Jackson and 
suite left the Hermitage for the seat of government. As there 
were no railroads, this journey was undertaken in a carriage, 
escorted by ten or twelve horsemen. He reached Washington 
early in February, and on the 4th of March the ceremony of his 
inauguration took place, at which time he delivered a short but 
appropriate address. 

President Jackson organized his Cabinet by appointing Mar- 
tin Van Buren, cf New York, Secretary of State ; Samuel D. 
Ingham, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Treasury ; John H. 
Eaton, of Tennessee, Secretary of War ; John Branch, of North 
Carolina, Secretary of the Navy; and John M. Berrien, of 
Georgia, Attorn ey-Genera I. 

On the opening of Congress, in December, 1829, the first 
message of the President was delivered. In this document he 
recommended an amendment to that part of the Constitution 
which relates to the election of President and Vice-President, 
so that all intermediate agency in the election might be 
removed. 

He believed that the purity of our government would be pro- 
moted by the exclusion of members of Congress from all 
appointments in the gift of the .President. He advised that 
the attention of Congress should be directed to the modifi- 
cation of the tariff. 

He recommended that no more first-rate ships should be 
built, but that the materials of marine architecture should 
rather be collected and placed in situations where they might 
readily be put to use. 

In 1830 Congress again assembled, and President Jackson 
presented his second annual message. Previous to the close of 
this session, a rupture took place between the President and 



170 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Mr. Calhoun, the Vice-President, which gave rise to a volum- 
inous correspondence, which was published at the adjournment 
of Congress. 

In this posture of affairs the country was astonished by the 
information that the Cabinet Ministers of the President had re- 
signed, and the most lively curiosity was manifested to learn 
the causes of this unexpected and unprecedented movement. 

The mystery was finally developed by a communication of 
the Attorney-General to the public, in which the cause of the 
want of harmony in the administration was attributed to a de- 
termination to compel the families of the retiring members 
to associate with the wife of the Secretary of State. 

It appeared that these ladies had declined to visit Mrs. Van 
Buren, which had resulted in a coolness and want of harmony 
between the Secretary of State and the others of the Cabinet. 

The new Cabinet, organized in the summer of 1831, was as fol- 
lows : Edward Livingstone, of Louisiana, Secretary of State ; 
Louis McLane, of Delaware, Secretary of the Treasury; Lewis 
Cass, of Ohio, Secretary of War , Levi Woodbury, of New Hamp- 
shire, Secretary of the Navy ; Roger B. Taney, of Maryland, 
Attorney-General. 

The determination adopted by General Jackson not to enforce 
the Indian Intercourse Act whenever its provisions should bring 
the government of a State into collision with that of the United 
States now began to produce unhappy consequences, and the 
State of Georgia began to issue writs against residents in the 
Indian Territory, and they were tried before the State tribunals, 
regardless of the pleas of the Cherokees as to the jurisdiction of 
the court. In the case of a» Indian condemned by the State 
courts to be executed for the murder of another Cherokee in the 
Indian Territory, a writ of error was issued from the Supreme 
Court of the United States and a citation served upon the Gov- 
ernor of Georgia, but the State of Georgia refused to acknowl- 
edge any rights of interference in the matter on the part of the 
General Government, and the Indian was executed in accord- 
ance with his sentence. 

The Twenty-second Congress of the United States convened 
in December, 1831, and the customary message was sent in. 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



171 



The most important question which agitated this session was 
that of renewing th ) charter of the Bank of the United States. 
After much discussion this bill passed the House and Senate, 
and was submitted to the President, by whom it was rejected 
and returned with his objections. A great sensation was 
produced throughout the Union by the promulgation of the 




STATUE OF ANDREW JACKSON, NEW ORLEANS, LA. 



veto-message, and the excitement was evidently favorable to 
the man who had possessed the independence to pursue such a 
course. On the 13th of July the Senate resumed the bank sub- 
ject, and after some discussion the question was put and 
decided in the negative. 

The next public paper of importance which proceeded from 
the President was the proclamation issued against the ordinance 
of the South Carolina convention, assembled at Columbia. 



172 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



The proceedings of this convention had been watched by the 
people with great interest, and when the deliberations resulted 
in the plain threat of nullification, conjecture w as busy as to the 
course the President would adopt. No sooner was his procla- 
mation issued denouncing the measures of the convention than 
it was met by the most cheering responses from all parts of the 
Union. This document may be ranked among the ablest and 
most popular State papers ever issued. The excitement was for- 
tunately allayed without bloodshed. 

On the 13th of February, 1883, the two Houses of Congress 
met in the Representatives' Chamber to count the votes for a 
President and Vice-President of the United States for four years 
from the 4th of March ensuing. The official result was as fol- 
lows : For President, Jackson, 219 votes ; Clay, 40 votes. For 
Vice-President, Van Buren, 189 votes ; Sergeant, 49 votes. 
General Jackson being re-elected, his inauguration took place 
with the usual ceremonies on the 4th of March. 

On the 6th of May General Jackson, with his Cabinet, assisted 
in laying the corner-stone of the monument erected at Frede- 
ricksburg in honor of the mother of Washington. It was while 
on board the steamer at Alexandria lhat Randolph, a discharged 
lieutenant from the navy, came on board and made a cowardly 
assault on the President. The ceremonies of laying the corner- 
stone were very solemn and imposing, and the occasion was 
altogether very grand. 

On the 0th of June, 1833, President Jackson set out on his 
journey to New England, accompanied by the Vice-President 
and members of the Cabinet. Everywhere the President 
stopped on the tour he was received with great enthusiasm by 
the citizens, and amid the firing of salutes, the waving of flags 
and the shouts of applauding multitudes, the journey was a 
perfect ovation. 

It was during President Jackson's absence on this trip that 
the order was given for the removal of the deposits from the 
Bank of the United States, which led to the expulsion of Mr. 
Duane from the Cabinet, and the temporary elevation of Mr. 
Taney to the office of Secretary of the Treasury. This act ren- 
dered the last years of President Jackson's administration a 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



173 



period of continued agitation and disorder. By one party it 
was sustained as a bold and patriotic movement necessary to 
arrest the political action of a dangerous moneyed institution ; 
by the other it was denounced as contrary to the good faith 
of the republic, the spirit of our institutions and the letter of 
the law. The question was duly brought before both houses of 
Congress. In the Senate a resolution of censure was passed, 
which was afterwards voted to be expunged, while in the House 
no definite action was ever taken on the precise point at issue. * 

General Jackson, immediately after quitting the Presidential 
Chair, went into retirement at the Hermitage, his country seat 
near Nashville, where his remaining days were passed under 
much bodily suffering, until the 8th of June, 1845, when, after 
a long confinement to his bed, he passed quietly away in the 
hope of a glorious immortality. 



MARTIN VAN BUREN. 



Martin Van Buren, the eighth President of the United States, 
was born at Kinderhook, in the State of New York, on the 5th 
of December, 1782. His parents were of Dutch descent, and in 
humble circumstances. He received his education in an 
academy of his native village, which he left at the age of four- 
teen years to commence the study of law. The term of study 
required of candidates not educated in college was then seven 
years. Six of them young Van Buren passed in his native 
village, the last in the city of New York, under the instructions 
of Mr. William P. Yan Ness, a distinguished member of the bar 
and a prominent leader of the Democratic party. 

In November, 1803, Mr. Yan Buren was admitted as an attor- 
ney at law to the bar of the Supreme Court in the State of New 
York, and immediately commenced the practice of his profes- 
sion at Kinderhook. At the first succeeding session of the 
Columbia County Court he was enrolled in the list of its attor- 
neys and counsellors. He also took an early interest in local 
politics, and espoused the principles of the Democratic party, 
and during the ascendency of this party in the State Mr. Yan 
Buren was a ppointed Surrogate of Columbia County. In 1809 
he removed from Kinderhook to Hudson, and thus established 
in the capital of his native county he may be considered to have 
entered on the most successful period of his professional life. 

Mr. Yan Buren resided for seven years in Hudson, engaged 
in the active practice of his profession, and managed with no 
little address as a party leader. His legal and partisan merits 
were so well appreciated that on the accession of the Demo- 
cratic party in 1815 he was appointed Attorney-General of the 
State. 

In 1812 he had been elected a member of the State Senate 



176 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



from the middle district, by which election he became a mem- 
ber of the Court for the Eeversion of Errors. In 1816, in con- 
sequence of his official duties and his professional engagements, 
he removed from Hudson to Albany, where his practice became 
extensive and lucrative. In 1819 his party had lost their ascen- 
dency in the council of appointment, and Mr. Van Buren was 
removed from the office of Attorney-General. His last profes- 
sional effort before a jury is said to have been in the trials of 
the celebrated Astor case and the case of the Sailors' Snug Har- 
bor in the city of New York. 

In the thirtieth year of his age Mr. Van Buren was elected to 
the State Senate, where his legal term of service commenced on 
the 4th of July, 1812. On the 3d of November, 1812, the Legis- 
lature met in Albany for the purpose of choosing electors, and 
on the evening of the 4th Democratic members of the Legisla- 
ture met in caucus in the Senate Chamber to nominate candi- 
dates for Presidential electors. The proposition before the cau- 
cus was " Madison and war" or " Clinton and peace." Mr. Van 
Buren spoke strongly for Clinton and peace. In comparing 
Madison with Clinton he rated the former infinitely below the 
latter. He denounced the policy of the general government in 
plunging the nation unprepared into a war, and denounced the 
entire Cabinet as unworthy the confidence and support of the 
people. Mr. Van Buren carried his point, and the caucus de- 
cided that they would support no man who would vote for 
James Madison. 

Thus it appears that from 1811 to 1813 Mr. Van Buren was 
the associate and friend of that class of politicians opposed to 
the war ; that he was the opponent of Madison and adherent of 
Clinton. When Mr. Madison was re-elected, December, 1812, 
Mr. Van Buren was disinclined to continue his opposition, and 
made arrangements to transfer his influence to the Madison 
party. Having ingratiated himself with Governor Tompkins, 
who possessed the confidence of the administration, he was 
introduced to the attention of the general government, and Mr. 
Van Buren was suddenly converted into an advocate of the war, 
a supporter of Mr. Madison and a professor of the current Vir- 
ginia politics. In this complexion he continued during the war. 



MARTIN VAN BUREN. 



177 



During the summer and autumn of 1816 it had become 
apparent to Mr. Van Buren that Mr. Clinton, as the head of 
the canal party, would be the next candidate for the guberna- 
torial chair. The canal policy was evidently in the ascendant. 
Until the convening of the Legislature, in January, 1817, Mr. 
Van Buren had been entirely noncommittal on the subject of 
internal improvement, and had even been engaged in violent 
denunciations of Mr. Clinton. Previous to the convention pre- 
liminary meetings were held by the anti-Olintonians, among 
whom Mr. Van Buren was numbered. It was then determined 
that as soon as Mr. Clinton was nominated the minority should 
withdraw. At length the grand caucus was held, and, as had 
been expected, Mr. Clinton was nominated, upon which Mr. 
Van Buren, to the great surprise, disgust and consternation of 
the anti-Clintonians, rose and moved that the nomination 
be made unanimous. Thus Mr. Van Buren found himself once 
more safely landed among the friends of Mr. Clinton, and soon 
after gave his first vote in favor of appropriations for the 
canal. 

After the election of Governor Clinton, Mr. Van Buren ascer- 
tained that he could not obtain his confidence, and was soon 
found in an opposition. The course pursued in appointments 
to office was not approved by the Democratic party, and Mr. 
Van Buren and his friends prepared to oppose his re-election. 

On the 6th of February, 1821, Mr. Van Buren was appointed 
by the Legislature of New York a member of the Senate of the 
United States. In the August following he was returned a 
member of the convention to revise the Constitution of the 
State. In this Convention he took an active part, and made an 
able speech. 

In December, 1821, Mr. Van Buren took his seat as a Senator 
of the United States. On his first appearance in that body he 
was elected a member of the committee on finance, and of the 
committee on the judiciary. Early in his Senatorial career he 
united with Colonel Johnson in his labors for the abolition of 
imprisonment for debt. He also favored an amendment to the 
Constitution to keep the choice of President and Vice-President 
from devolving on the House of Representatives. He also ad- 



178 



LIVES OF OUB PRESIDENTS. 



vocated the establishment of a uniform system of bank- 
ruptcy. 

In February, 1824, the Congressional caucus at Washington 
nominated Mr. Crawford for the Presidency, and Mr. Van 
Buren was zealous in his support. At this election the aggre- 
gate vote of the colleges was 261, of which Mr. Crawford re* 
ceived 41, Mr. Clay 37, Mr. Adams 84, and General Jackson 99. 
In the State of New York the influence of Mr. Van Buren had 
given five of her electoral votes to Mr. Crawford. In the ulti- 
mate decision between Mr. Adams and General Jackson, Mr. 
Van Buren took no active part. It was not anticipated that 
Mr. Adams would be elected on the first ballot. The unex- 
pected result prevented Mr. Van Buren from signalizing himself 
m his service. 

Mr. Van Buren soon become noted for his zeal and activity 
in opposition to the administration of Mr. Adams. He opposed 
the mission to Panama. He opposed the appropriation of 
money by the general government for internal improvements. 
He expressed himself in opposition to a high tariff policy. He 
also took an active part in the reform of the press, by advocat- 
ing the judicious bestowal of the patronage of the Senate. 

De Witt Clinton died in February, 1828, and in November 
following Mr. Van Buren was elected to succeed him in the 
gubernatorial chair, and he accordingly resigned his seat in the 
Senate and entered upon the office of Governor in January, 1829. 

In his message to the Legislature he broached the scheme of 
the safety fund, in which he expressed the opinion that to dis- 
pense with banks altogether is an idea which seems to have 
no advocate, while to make ourselves dependent on those 
established by Federal authority deserves none. That experi- 
ence is against banks owned wholly by the State, and that to 
make stockholders responsible in their private capacity throws 
the stock in the hands of irresponsible persons ; and concluded 
his message by saying that "the interest which attaches itself 
to the representative character can never be greater than when 
the fulfillment of the trust committed to the representative 
may bring him in conflict with the claims of the great moneyed 
interests of the country." 



MARTIN VAN BTJREN. 



179 



On the 20th of January, 1829, Mr. Van Buren, in a brief 
message, introduced the safety fund to the favorable notice of 
the Legislature. Thus, though his gubernatorial career was 
brief, it was signalized by the adoption of a system which 
combined the moneyed interests of the entire State in an in- 
soluble league of mutual dependence. By Mr. Van Buren's 
agency the system was afterward introduced into the national 
policy. In both instances it proved a stupendous failure. 

On the 12tn of March, 1829, Mr. Van Buren resigned the office 
of Governor in consequence of his appointment as Secretary of 
State of the United States. He had thus reached an important 
point in the career of his ambition. His eye immediately rested 
on the Presidency as a prize within his grasp. Mr. Calhoun, 
however, the Vice-President, was at that time a formidable 
rival, and it was necessary to supplant him in his hold upon 
General Jackson. Mr. Yan Buren learned that during Presi- 
dent Monroe's administration Mr. Calhoun, then Secretary of 
War, urged upon the President the necessity of arresting and 
trying General Jackson for bis proceedings in Florida during 
the Seminole War. This information was employed by Mr. 
Van Buren and his friends to bring about a rupture between 
General Jackson and Mr. Calhoun. The scheme was successful, 
and Mr. Calhoun, in consequence, resigned the Vice-Presidency. 

Soon after the rupture with Mr. Calhoun the public mind was 
disturbed by the explosion of the Cabinet. Owing to a lack of 
harmony the President requested the Cabinet to resign, declar- 
ing that its members had come together as a unit, and he was 
determined to reconstruct it of entirely new material. 

General Jackson's confidence in Mr. Yan Buren remained un- 
shaken, and in 1831 he was dispatched as minister to England 
to succeed Mr. McLane. On the meeting of Congress in De- 
cember he was nominated to the Senate of the United States for 
their approbation, but was rejected by that body in consequence 
of their disapproval of the instructions which he issued while 
Secretary of State to our Minister in England in reference to our 
West India trade. 

On the 22d of May, 1832, Mr. Yan Buren was nominated as a 
candidate for the Yice- Presidency. He received one hundred 



180 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



and eighty-nine of two hundred and eighty-six electoral votes, 
and was accordingly elected. On the 4th of March, 1833, he 
was inaugurated as Vice-President. In this position he seldom 
obtained the opportunity of taking an active part in public 
affairs. The most lemarkable instance that occurred during 
his four years' term as Vice-President was in reference to the 
incendiary publication bill of Mr. Calhoun. This bill contem- 
plated the suppression of incendiary documents on the subject 
of slavery, through the agency of the post-office. On its pas- 
sage to a second reading there was a tie in the Senate. The 
easting vote of the Vice-President was called for, and was given 
in favor of the bill. At its next stage it was defeated by the 
votes of Senators from the slave-holding States. 

During his occupancy of the office Mr. Van Buren was fre- 
quently called upon for his opinion on public affairs. To all 
such questions he replied without hesitation or reserve, declar- 
ing his hostility to the United States Bank, to a system of inter- 
nal improvements, and a complete acquiescence in all the 
views, feelings and opinions of General Jackson. On the right 
of interference by the General Government, or the people of the 
non-slave-holding States, in the subject of slavery, he expressed 
himself in the very strongest language. 

On the 20th of May, 1835, the Jackson convention for the 
nomination of a candidate for the Presidency was held at Balti- 
more. About six hundred delegates were in attendance. On 
the first ballot Mr. Van Buren received the unanimous votes of 
the convention for the candidacy ; and Richard M. Johnson, of 
Kentucky, was subsequently nominated for the office of Vice- 
President. These nominations, it was well understood, had the 
express approbation of General Jackson. So ardent indeed was 
his approval, that to carry out the principles of his administra- 
tion in a successor on whom he could place the most implicite 
reliance, he openly and warmly advocated Mr. Van Buren's elec- 
tion. 

On convassing the returns of electoral votes for President it 
was ascertained that Martin Van Buren had received 167, Daniel 
Webster 14, General William H. Harrison 93, Hugh L. White 
26 and Willie P. Mangum 11 votes. There was no choice of 



MARTIN VAN BUREN. 



181 



Vice-President by the people. The two highest candidates that 
went before the Senate were Colonel Johnson, of Kentucky, and 
Francis Granger, of New York. Of the forty-nine Senators 
present at the time of balloting, 16 cast their votes for Mr. 
Granger, and 33 for Colonel Johnson, who was accordingly de- 
clared to be elected. 

Mr. Van Buren was inaugurated on the 4th of March, and on 
the occasion delivered a very fine address, in which he rehearsed 
the progress of our institutions through all the trials and dangers 
which usually beset nations in their rise and progress. 

The administration of President Van Buren was not marked 
by any events or action of particular importance. He had 
scarcely taken the executive chair before a great financial em- 
barrassment overspread the country, occasioning such a dis- 
tressed condition of affairs that he deemed it necessary to call 
together the representatives of the people. 

There was also a misunderstanding between the State of 
Maine and Great Britain on the subject of the boundary 
between that State and Canada, which for a time made a rup- 
ture imminent between the two countries. 

On the 4th of March, 1841, at the expiration of his term of 
office, Mr. Van Buren retired to his country seat, and although 
his friends and admirers on several occasions sought to bring 
him officially before the public, he never again filled an office 
in the gif c of the people, but in a dignified and honorable 
retirement passed his remaining years on earth until the 24th of 
July, 1862, when he was summoned in a ripe old age to his final 
rest. 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



When a man can proudly refer to the achievements of his 
fathers it stimulates his mind to be worthy of such a parentage, 
and urges him to attempt a career as bright and glorious as that 
of his ancestry. 

The subject of our sketch, William Henry Harrison, the ninth 
President of the United States, was descended from a long line 
of patriots, and would have proved recreant to the best blood in 
America had he been less heroic than they. 

He was born on the 9th of February, 1 773, at Berkley, on the 
James River, Virginia, about twenty-five miles below Bich- 
mond. His father was Benjamin Harrison, a delegate to the 
Continental Congress in 1774-5-6, and when a candidate for the 
presidency of the Congress he urged upon his fellow members 
with noble generosity and modesty that they should elect his 
rival, John Hancock, and with the ready good humor charac- 
teristic of him he seized Mr. Hancock in his athletic arms, and, 
as he placed him in the presidential chair, he said to the mem- 
bers: * We will show Mother Britain how little we care for her 
by making a Massachusetts man whom she has excluded from 
pardon by public proclamation our President." 

When the sacred Declaration of Independence was drawn up, 
Benjamin Harrison joined the patriot fathers and signed the 
immortal document. He afterward filled the executive chair of 
Virginia at a time when the energies of the bold, prompt and 
daring were requisite. to inspire his countrymen. 

William Henry Harrison was the third and youngest son, and 
though the father was poor in this world's goods the son re- 
ceived a good education at Hampden Sydney College, and 
afterwards applied himself to the study of medicine. 

He was about to graduate as a physician when reports of 



184 



LIVES OP OUB PRESIDENTS. 



horrible Indian butcheries in the frontier settlements and the 
daring deeds of his countrymen in the Western wilds roused in 
him the desire to share the perils of his country, and he resolved 
to join the frontier army, not to spread plasters and sew up 
gashes, but as a soldier of liberty. 

The army then serving in the West under General St. Clair 
had been raised for the purpose of preventing the repeated out- 
rages and barbarities of the Indians, and this little band the 
young student resolved to join and serve his country where she 
most needed the gallantry of her sons. His design being ap- 
proved by Washington, who had also been a warm friend of 
his father, he received from the Commander-in-Chief an 
ensign's commission in the first regiment of United States 
Artillery, then stationed at Fort Washington, where Cincinnati 
now stands. 

In 1783 peace was concluded between Great Britain and the 
United States, yet our country was the scene of war and blood- 
shed. During the Revolutionary contest most of the Indian 
tribes on the frontier had been induced to take up arms in favor 
of Great Britain, and they now refused to lay down the 
hatchet. A few of the tribes entered into treaties of peace 
with this country, but those north and west of the Ohio per- 
sisted in maintaining their barbarous and devastating hostility. 
The British, in defiance of a solemn treaty, continued to hold 
military posts within our acknowledged territory, to tamper 
with the tribes in our limits, and faithlessly to supply the muni- 
tions of war to be used against a civilized people at peace with 
them. 

The defeat of Brigadier-General Harmer and the total 
destruction of his gallant army by hordes of savages filled the 
whole frontier with apprehension and despair, while it inspired 
the Indians with renewed confidence, and, flushed with victory, 
they extended their barbarities with the apparent determina- 
tion to annihilate every settler on the border. 

A new army was immediately required, which was raised 
and placed under command of Major General St. Clair, a vet- 
eran of the Revolution. The new army marched to the seat of 
war and advanced slowly and cautiously toward the head waters 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



185 



of the Wabash, opening a road and building forts at suitable dis- 
tances. By the first of November, 1791, St. Clair found himself 
in the midst of the Indian country and within fifteen miles of 
the Miami villages. On the 4th, about daylight, his camp was 
suddenly attacked by an immense body of savages, aided by 
white auxiliaries from Canada. The militia occupying the front 
were dismayed by the impetuosity and violence of this unex- 
pected attack, and, falling back upon the regulars, threw them 
into c mfusion. Twice were the Indians driven back by des- 
perate charges, but while they gave way at one point before the 
bayonets of our soldiers, from every other quarter they poured 
in a heavy and destructive fire upon the lines until the whole 
army was thrown into the greatest confusion and a most dis- 
orderly retreat ensued. 

For several miles the Indians pursued the defeated army, and 
the woods were literally strewn with the dead and dying. The 
army suffered most cruelly. Of fourteen hundred men engaged, 
five hundred and thirty -four were killed and three hundred and 
sixty wounded. 

The frequent defeats rendered it imperative that the army 
should be placed under the command of a military chief of 
well-earned reputation — a cautious, discreet, brave and ener- 
getic soldier— and Washington in his excellent judgment 
selected Anthony Wayne, who, from his eventful fortunes and 
daring adventures, was known as Mad Anthony, and he at once 
received orders to take command of the Western Army. 

On the 25th of May, 1792, General Wayne having been fur- 
nished by the Secretary of War with the instructions of the 
President, in which it was emphatically expressed that another 
defeat would be inexpressibly ruinous to the reputation of the 
government, repaired to Pittsburgh, the place appointed for 
the rendezvous of the troops, where he arrived in June. The 
newly organized army was to consist of one Major-General, 
four Brigadier Generals, their respective staffs and commis- 
sioned officers, and five thousand one hundred and twenty non- 
commissioned officers and privates. Most of the experienced 
officers having been killed in the defeats of Harmer and St. 
Clair or resigned their commissions, the organization of the 



186 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



troops, drill, discipline, etc., devolved upon the General, and it 
was almost a herculean labor to bring the troops up to the 
courage, coolness and skill necessary for an encounter with 
the savages. 

Such was the condition of the country, the position of the 
army and the facts he encountered when Ensign Harrison 
joined his regiment at Fort Washington. Young Harrison 
reached the fort directly after the defeat of St. Clair, and wit- 
nessed the gathering in of the vanquished and disheartened 
troops, while the savage foe ventured almost to the very gates 
of the fort. 

Soon after his arrival at Fort Washington it became necessary 
to dispatch a train of pack horses to Fort Hamilton, about thirty 
miles distant upon the Great Miami. This train in charge of a 
body of soldiers was placed under command of our boy soldier. 
While the distance was shcrt the thousands of lurking savages 
in the forest made it an extremely perilous trip. This brave 
service young Harrison performed with great credit to himself, 
and General St. Clair openly bestowed upon him the warmest 
praise and commendation. He rapidly gained the entire confi- 
dence of his officers and in 1792 was promoted to the rank of 
lieutenant. 

In May, 1792, General Wayne repaired to Pittsburgh for the 
purpose of organizing his army, and having the troops in condi- 
tion, by the 27th of November he began to move his forces, but 
when only twenty -two miles from Pittsburgh he stopped and 
encamped for the winter on the Ohio. This sagacious plan of 
the General was for the purpose of familiarizing his army with 
the Indians, who, being almost all the time near the post, kept 
the officers and soldiers on the alert and the numerous skir- 
mishes gave them practice in Indian warfare. Having procured 
a suitable number of boats for the purpose, he broke up his 
winter camp on the 30th of April, 1793, and conveyed his army 
down the river to Fort Washington, where Lieutenant Harrison 
joined the legion. 

Kemaining in his quarters until the 7th of October, he com- 
menced a march, and six days after took up a position on the 
southwest branch of the Miami, six miles beyond Fort Jeffer- 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



18? 



son and eighty from Fort Washington. To this position he 
gave the name of Greenville, and fortified it so as to render it 
perfectly secure and impregnable to any force which could pos- 
sibly be brought against him in the wilderness. 

On the 23d of December a detachment of artillery and in- 
fantry was dispatched to take possession of the ground upon 
which St. Clair and his gallant army had been so terribly de- 
feated two years before. Lieutenant Harrison eagerly volun- 
teered for this service. The battle-field was taken possession 
of, and a fortification, called Fort Recovery, erected. On the 
return of the troops Lieutenant Harrison was specially thanked 
for his voluntary services. 

When young Harrison first entered the army his slight frame 
and delicate appearance led all to believe that he could not 
endure the hardships of a soldier's life. "I would as soon 
have thought of putting my wife in the service as this boy," 
wrote an old soldier of St. Clair ; ' 6 but I have been out with 
him, and I find those smooth cheeks are on a wise head and 
that slight frame is almost as tough as my own weather-beaten 
carcass." 

In July, 1794, General Scott again joined the army with his 
daring mounted volunteers from Kentucky, and on the 8th of 
August General Wayne advanced about seventy miles beyond 
Greenville, and occupied a position at Grand Glaize, in the very 
midst of the hostile tribes. Having erected a fortress at the 
confluence of the Miami of the Lakes and the Au Glaize, called 
Fort Defiance, General Wayne was prepared for action at any 
moment, although he gave the Indians another opportunity to 
abandon hostilities, which they rejected. 

On the 15th of August the army advanced from Grand 
Glaize and arrived at Roche cle Bout on the 18th. At 8 o'clock 
on the 20th the army again advanced in columns, after having 
reconnoitered the position of the enemy behind a thick wood 
and the British fort, and after some excellent manceuverings 
by the commands under the brigadier-generals, a general en- 
gagement was entered into, which resulted in the overwhelm- 
ing defeat of the Indians and Canadian militia. On the return 
of the army to Grand Glaize they destroyed the Indian villages 



188 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



and corn fields for about fifty miles on each side of the 
Miami. 

In this successful engagement Lieutenant Harrison acted as 
aide, and was constantly exposed in dispatching orders to almost 
every part of the field, and Wayne's campaign was an admira- 
ble school for the young and daring soldier. 

On January 1st, 1795, the Indians opened a negotiation for 
peace, agreeing to surrender all captives, to ratify all former 
treaties and to comply with such general terms as should be 
imposed by General Wayne. The news of Wayne's victory 
reaching England, enabled Mr. Jay to conclude mcst advanta- 
geously for our Government the negotiation which had long 
been pending between him and Lord Grenville. 

At the close of the campaign, Lieutenant Harrison was pro- 
moted to a captaincy, and placed in command of Fort Wash- 
ington. While there he married the daughter of John Cleves 
Symmes, the founder of the Miami settlements. 

On the death of General Wayne, in 1797, Captain Harrison 
left tbe army, and received his first civil appointment as Secre- 
tary of the Northwestern Territory, and ex officio Lieutenant- 
Governor. The year following the Northwestern Territory was 
entitled to representation by a delegate to Congress, and Mr. 
Harrison was chosen as their first delegate. 

He soon offered a resolution for the appointment of a com- 
mittee to investigate and report upon the existing manner of 
disposing of public lands. Of this committee he was selected 
chairman. He shortly after reported upon his resolution, and 
also presented a bill, the main clause of which reduced the size 
of tracts from four thousand acres to alternate half and quarter 
sections, or alternate tracts of three hundred and twenty and 
one hundred and sixty acres. The report accompanying the 
bill gave a clear and distinct view of the true position of the 
population of his Territory, and the great disadvantage under 
w T hich the people labored. It gained for the new delegate a 
reputation unprecedented for so young a man. He defended 
this bill eloquently against much opposition, and secured its' 
passage in the House, but the Senate refused to pass it, and a 
compromise was made by which the public lands were there- 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



189 



after to be sold in tracts of six hundred and forty and three 
hundred and twenty acres. 

Mr. Harrison next offered a resolution changing the manner 
of treating military land warrants, resulting in the passage of 
a proper bill. 

Thus early in life we find Mr. Harrison contending manfully 
for the rights of the people, and practicing upon the noble 
principles laid down by his distinguished father. The success 
of the delegate was manifest throughout the whole North- 
western country and gained him great popularity, resulting in 
the settlers forwarding a great number of petitions requesting 
the President to appoint Mr. Harrison Governor of the North- 
western Territory. 

About this time, however, that which is now the State of 
Ohio was created a Territory by itself, and the remainder of the 
Northwestern Teritory received the name of Indiana, and Mr. 
Harrison, at the almost universal request of the inhabitants, was 
appointed by the President Governor of the Territory of Indiana. 
This territory was at that time a vast domain, including the 
whole territory of the United States beyond the Mississippi and 
Ohio, and from 1803 to 1803 the whole of upper Louisiana was 
under the jurisdiction of Governor Harrison. 

Mr. Jefferson soon after this appointed Governor Harrison 
sole commisioner for treating with the Indians. He conducted 
this trust with great discretion and acquired an uncommon in- 
fluence over the Indians, and in one treaty he secured to the 
United States fifty-one millions of acres cf the richest country 
in the West. 

Governor Harrison brought suit against a person who had 
thrown out malicious hints in reference to his negotiations with 
the Indians. The charges were so unfounded that the jury 
returned a verdict of four thousand dollars damages for the 
Governor. This was an enormous verdict for a new country, 
but Governor Harrison, after buying in the defendant's prop- 
erty at the sals , returned two-thirds of it to his slanderer and 
gave the remainder to the orphans cf some soldiers who had 
fallen in battle. So conscientious was Governor Harrison that 
he refused to receive fees for Indian licenses and a great part of 



190 



LIVES OF OUK PRESIDENTS. 



the compensation as commissioner, and declined to become 
interested in land purchases which he could have secured in 
his official capacity, although he could have amassed a splendid 
fortune by so doing. 

Governor Harrison labored earnestly to prevent the sale of 
spirituous Ikmor among the Indians. In this he was earnestly 
assisted by Little Turtle, the chief of the Miama tribe. 

In the year 1806 two noted Indian characters began to disturb 
the whole frontier. These were Tecumseh and his brother, 
who, as a prophet, possessed great influence over the Indians. 
These brothers conceived the project of uniting all the Eastern 
tribes in a terrible war against the Americans. 

In the summer of 18 10 Tecumseh visited Governor Harrison 
at Yincennes, accompanied by over three hundred warriors, 
completely armed, for the purpose of intimidating the Gov- 
ernor. Tecumseh made an exciting speech, to which General 
Harrison replied with a convincing argument that enraged 
Tecumseh, and springing from the ground he exclaimed : "It 
is false !" and at a signal to his band every man leaped up and 
seized his war club, while Tecumseh advanced upon the Gov- 
ernor, tomahawk in hand. The situation was extremely peril- 
ous, and had Governor Harrison shown a particle of fear he 
would probably have been killed. But he firmly rebuked 
Tecumseh for his conduct and ordered him to leave the settle- 
ment. The next morning the haughty chief returned, and, 
apologizing for his insult, desired that the council might be 
renewed. At this second meeting Tecumseh acted with per- 
fect respect. 

Soon after this Tecumseh withdrew to the Prophet's town, and 
in a few months more information reached Vincennes that a 
thousand warriors were assembled at Tippecanoe, and soon after 
this Tecumseh went south to stir up the Indians in that local- 
ity and send them to join his brother at the Prophet's town, 
which was the grand centre of all the Indians who were pre- 
paring for war. Called together for the express purpose of 
attacking the whites, they became restless and impatient. Their 
savage habits could bear no restraint, nor did the Prophet 
attempt to control them in their lawless desires. Parties roved 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



191 



about the country, and scarcely rose the sun but his rays fell 
upon the mangled bodies of helpless women and children and 
the smoking ruins of tne settlers' cabins. 

These outrages could no longer be borne, and Governor Har- 
rison, at his own earnest solicitation and the repeated petitions 
of the people, in 1811 received directions from the President to 
march against the Prophet's town with an armed force. The 
news of the Governor's authority to march against the Indians 
was met with rapture through the whole West, particularly in 
Kentucky. The people had suffered so long, and so many bar- 
barities had been practiced upon the settlers, that they burned 
for revenge and in crowds volunteered their services for the 
dangerous business. 

The army raised amounted to a little over nine hundred men, 
but they were a gallant band, and Governor Harrison drilled 
them on General Wayne's system. The army commenced its 
march from Fort Harrison, on the Wabash, about sixty miles 
above Vincennes, on the 28th of October, and on their march to 
Tippecanoe were encamped in order of battle, and moved so that 
they could form for action almost instantly, while five friendly 
Indians and a Frenchman acting as scouts were kept out con- 
stantly, as well as advance guards to prevent the main body 
from savage ambuscade. 

On the evening of the 5 th of November the army encamped 
within nine or ten miles of Tippecanoe, and the march on the 
next day was conducted with the greatest caution to avoid a 
surprise. Having reached a favorable spot for an encampment 
within a mile and a half of the town, the Governor determined 
to remain there and fortify his position. Soon after the Prophet 
sent out three messengers, saying he wished to avoid hostilities 
and desired that a council be held the next day to agree on 
terms of peace. Governor Harrison, consenting to this, moved 
his army toward the Wabash to encamp for the night, the 
place selected being about three-fourths of a mile from Tippe- 
canoe. On the night of the 6th of November the troops went to 
rest, as usual, with their clothes and accoutrements and their 
arms by their side. On the morning of the 7th, at about four 
o'clock, Governor Harrison had just risen and was waiting for 



192 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



the signal which, in a few moments, would be given for the 
troops to turn out, when an attack by the Indians commenced. 
The treacherous savages had crept up intending to kill the sen- 
tries before they could shoot, but one of them discovered an 
Indian creeping toward him in the grass and fired. This was 
immediately followed by the Indian yell and a desperate charge 
upon the left flank. The manner of the attack was calculated 
to discourage and terrify the men, yet they maintained their 
ground with desperate valor, and after many brave officers and 
men were killed and the Governor's aide was shot down by his 
side, the troops succeeded in driving the Indians into the swamp 
where the cavalry could not follow them, and thus ended the 
battle, with the victory decidedly in favor of the Governor's 
gallant army. 

At the time of the battle Tecumseh was still at the south, 
and when he returned was much exasperated, surprised and 
mortified at the conduct of the Prophet. He saw at once that 
he must take a decided stand, and he did so at once in favor of 
the British. The defeat of the Indians and their loss of life 
had opened their eyes with respect to the power of the Proph- 
et. The blow had been struck too soon. 

The whole of the day of the battle was occupied in fortifying 
the camp, burying the dead and assisting the wounded. On 
the 8th the town was reconnoitered. It was well fortified, 
but totally deserted, the Indians having abandoned all their 
provisions and household utensils. On the 9th the army pre^ 
pared to return. At the block-house on the Wabash the 
wounded were placed in boats, while the rest of the army con- 
tinued their way to Vincennes by land, 

On the 18th of June, 1812, war was declared against Great 
Britain by the United States. In expectation of a war the 
English had inflamed the minds of the Indians, and their bar- 
barities now became more frequent and more alarming. The 
settlers deserted their farms and fled to Vincennes with their 
families, to the protection of Governor Harrison. 

The cowardly surrender of Detroit by Hull left not a fort in 
our hands upon the upper lakes, nor any regular force. Such 
was the situation on our Northern border when Governor Har* 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



193 



rison was appointed to the command of the Northwestern 
army. This conferred on General Harrison the most extensive 
and important command ever intrusted to any officer of the 
United States, Washington and Greene only excepted. 

General Harrison now proceeded to St. Mary's and Defiance, 
where he found General Winchester encamped. The march 
was forced, without tents, and all shared alike the hardships of 
the season. One evening they encamped on the banks of the 
AuGlaizein a beech bottom, where the rain fell in torrents 
during the whole night. There were no axes in the army, and, 
without fire, many sat upon their saddles and others leaned 
against trees or crept beneath fallen logs. Being separated 
from the baggage, the troops had nothing to eat or drink and 
some began to murmur. General Harrison sat at a small fire 
wrapped in his cloak and drenched to the skin with the 
falling torrent. To set an example to his staff and the soldiers 
he called upon one of the officers to sing an Irish comic song. 
Another song followed in which the chorus was : 

" Now's the time for mirth and glee, 
Sing and laugh and dance with me." > 

The spirit thus shown at headquarters spread through all the 
troops, and frequently when wading knee-deep in the mud, 
some noble souls would sing out : 

" Now's the time for mirth and glee "— 

and the chorus would be repeated by the whole line. 

The objects of the present campaign were to retake Detroit 
* and expel the British from the territory of the United States, 
to protect the extensive frontier and reduce Maiden in Upper 
Canada. The General drew up his plan of operations at the 
outset, and selected the Rapids of the Miami of the Lakes as 
the point of concentration, while the military base extended 
from upper Sandusky to Fort Defiance. General Harrison at 
this time advised the building of vessels to contend with the 
English upon the lakes, and the wisdom of his suggestion was 
evinced by our repeated naval victories. 

On the 3d of September a body of Kickapoos and Winne- 
bagos attempted to gain admission to Fort Harrison, but Cap- 



194 



LIVES 



tain Zacbary Taylor, the commander, kept the garrison on the 
alert, and when the assault was made, gallantly repulsed the 
enemy. Foiled in this, the savages fell upon the settlements 
and cruelly tortured men, women and children. To check these 
outrages General Harrison and General Hopkins, in November, 
moved against the Indians on the Mohawk, destroying the 
Prophet's town and a Kickapoo and Winnebago village. About 
le same time Governor Edwards, of Illinois, and Colonel 
ussel destroyed the principal village of the Kickapoos at 
! eoria Lake and killed a large number of warriors. 
General Harrison had directed General Winchester to advance 
> the Rapids. Having heard subsequently that Tecumseh had 
Elected a large force on the head-waters of the Wabash, Gen- 
eral Harrison sent another dispatch to General Winchester, 
rdering him to fall back with the greater part of his force, but 
Winchester had begun his march, reaching the Rapids on the 
)th of January, where he fortified a good position. General 
arrison became very uneasy upon learning that General W^in- 
lester was meditating a movement against the enemy, as 
/olonel Elliot was expected from Maiden with a detachment 
? British and Indians to attack the camp at the Rapids. 
Dlonel Lewis was sent forward, and found the enemy pre- 
tred to meet him at Frenchtown. Here a desperate but 
iort engagement took place, and the English were driven for 
vo miles. 

Instead of retiring after this brilliant affair, Lewis held pos- 
ssion of the town. During the night of tne 21st the British 
id come up unobserved, and at daylight opened fire with 
?avy artillery, which compelled a body of reinforcements to 
be across the river. In the disorderly retreat the Indians 
ained our flank and rear and butchered our soldiers most 
lockingly. In this engagement General Winchester, yho had 
marched to Lewis' assistance, was taken prisoner, and the 
rroops in the town were at last forced to surrender. 

On hearing of the unauthorized movements of Winchester 
tend his command, General Harrison at once dispatched troops 
to prevent a disaster, not knowing that an engagement had 
leen fought, and almost immediately afterward General Har- 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



195 



rison started for the Rapids, where he learned of the unfor- 
tunate results of Winchester's action. 

General Harrison having heard that the enemy intended an 
expedition against Camp Meigs, hastened to the scene of 
expected action, and reached the camp on the 24th of April. 
The British took up a position about two miles from Camp 
Meigs, on the opposite shore, while the Indians landed on this 
side and surrounded the American camp. For five days the 
enemy threw a continuous shower of bullets, but with very 
little effect. During the hottest of the engagement Harrison 
ordered Colonel Miller to charge the enemy's batteries on this 
side the river. This charge was gallantly made ; the English 
were driven off and their guns spiked, and forty-one soldiers 
were made prisoners. Dudley had been sent at the same time 
to charge the enemy's batteries on the opposite side of the 
river. Dudley charged at full speed and pulled down the Brit- 
ish flag without the loss of a man. General Harrison made 
sigoals for Dudley to retire, but they loitered until the enemy 
rallied, and in the retreat Dudley and most of his men were 
taken prisoners and brutally murdered by the savages in the 
presence of the infamous Proctor, who made no attempt to 
stay the massacre of the unarmed prisoners. Proctor sent a 
summons to Harrison to surrender Fort Meigs. The General 
replied that the message was an affront which must not be 
repeated, and on the 8th Proctor acknowledged that he was 
beaten, by raising the siege. 

General Harrison, soon after this, determined to push the war 
into the enemy's territory, and the artillery, stores, and pro- 
visions were embarked on the 16th of September, and on the 
20th to 24th the army followed to the place of rendezvous at 
Put-in-Bay. Perry's victory and Harrison's advance had cooled 
Proctor so much that, burning the fort and navy-yard at Mai- 
den, he fled, and Harrison's army encamped on the ruins. 

On October 5th, General Harrison overtook Proctor in an ex- 
cellent position, with his left flanked by the Eiver Thames and 
his right by a swamp. Still further to the right Tecumseh was 
posted with his Indians. Proctor formed his men in open 
order. This gave Harrison the opportunity to break his lines 



196 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



with cavalry, and he immediately ordered Colonel Johnson to 
dash through the enemy's line with his mounted men. 

The command was brilliantly executed. The mounted men 
charged impetuously through the enemy's ranks, formed in 
their rear, and attacked their broken lines. The British threw 
down their arms, and an almost bloodless victory was obtained 
by the ease and rapidity with which General Harrison 
manoeuvred his army. The Indians rushed upon the mounted 
men in the fiercest desperation, while Tecumseh pressed eagerly 
into the hottest of the contest, until suddenly his cry of com- 
mand was hushed, and the doughty chief was dead. His men 
now fled, leaving thirty-three dead on the field. 

Thus ended the battle. The entire force of the enemy was 
captured, except a few that galloped off with Proctor. This 
brilliant victory, following so closely on Perry's glorious battle, 
closed the war in that quarter and rescued the whole North- 
western frontier from the barbarities of the savages. 

Harrison's victory on the Thames was celebrated with illu- 
minations throughout the entire country, and grand ovations 
greeted the hero wherever he went. 

On the 25th of April General Harrison resigned his commis- 
sion. Here ended his brilliant and glorious military career. 
For nearly a quarter of a century he had been a prominent actor 
in the battles of his country, and when he could no longer serve 
her in the field, he gave up his commission and retired to private 
life. 

In 1814 General Harrison was appointed, with Governor 
Shelby and General Cass, to treat with the Western Indians, 
and after the peace with Great Britain, in 1815, he was placed 
at the head of another commission. 

Inl8l6hewas elected to fill a vacancy in Congress, and also 
for two years succeeding. 

In 1819 General Harrison was elected a member of the Senate 
of Ohio. Here he served two years. 

In 1822 he was a candidate for Congress, but lost his election 
in consequence of having voted against the Missouri restriction. 

In 1824 General Harrison was elected to the Senate of the 
United States. 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



197 



In 1828 he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the 
Republic of Colombia, but one of Jackson's first acts upGn 
taking the Presidential chair was to recall General Harrison. 

He now retired to his farm at North Bend and devoted him- 
self to the cultivation of his property. 

In 1836 he was taken up by a portion of the States and run 
in opposition to Martin Van Buren for the Presidency. It can 
scarcely be said that there was any concentrated action among 
the opposition, nor was he taken up until within a few months 
of the election, and yet he received seventy-two electoral votes, 
while Mr. Van Buren became President. 

In 1840 General Harrison was again nominated by the Whig 
party with the greatest enthusiasm as a candidate against 
Martin Van Buren. The campaign of that year was one of the 
most spirited ever conducted in this country, and popular 
enthusiasm ran wild over the hero of Tippecanoe and the 
Thames. Campaign songs of 

41 Tippecanoe 
And Tyler too," 

were sung by every Whig schoolboy in the land, as well as by 
the stalwart voters. Grand processions marched in every 
county, and at every barbecue and public meeting the typical 
log cabin and barrel of cider were sure to be seen. Long 
before the election it was plainly to be seen that a popular 
furor for General Harrison was carrying everything before it, 
and although General Jackson threw all his influence against 
Harrison^ he was elected by an overwhelming popular vote, 
receiving two hundred and thirty-four electoral votes, while 
Mr. Van Buren had but sixty. 

On the 4th of March, 1841, General Harrison was inaugurated 
President, and for one short month gave every evidence of a 
glorious and statesmanlike administration. But at the end of 
that month, on the 4th of April, having been seized by a sudden 
and fatal illness a few days before, he was gathered to his 
fathers, leaving behind as his last words the noble sentiment 
addressed to Mr. Tyler: 

" Sir, I wish you to understand the principles of the govern- 
ment. I wish them carried out ; I ask nothing more." 



JOHN TYLER. 



John Tyler was the first Vice-President of the United States 
who became President by the death of the chief executive. 
Having been elected on the ticket with General Harrison, in 
just one month after the inauguration death called him to the 
Presidential chair. 

Like most of the early Presidents, he was born in Virginia, 
the light of this world having dawned upon him in Charles 
City County, in that State, on the 29th of March) 1790. Having 
been blessed with the ample wealth of his father, his early life 
was full of all the pleasures and advantages that youth could 
desire. Such attention had been paid to his early education 
that at the age of seventeen he completed his collegiate course 
at William and Mary College. Immediately entering upon the 
study of Jaw, he had completed the # course, and began practice 
by the time he was nineteen years old. For one so young his 
professional progress was wonderful, and a heavy practice 
flowed in to him from the very start. 

At the age of twenty-one he had so attracted public attention 
that he was elected as a member of the State Legislature, to 
which he was returned upon five succeeding elections, where 
he made himself popular by espousing the principles of Jeffer- 
son and Madison. 

At the age of twenty- six he was elected a member of the 
House of Representatives of Congress as a Democrat. Here he 
advocated and labored for all the principles of his party, until 
during his second term he was compelled by the state of his 
health to resign and return to his country home. 

He had scarcely begun to enjoy his rest when he was again 
elected to the State Legislature. 

Such was his rapid progress in public esteem and such the 



200 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



appreciation for his sound statesmanship, that in 1825 he was 
elected Governor of Virginia, having received the compliment 
of a large majority over the opposing candidate. In this high 
position of honor and trust, as in previous ones, his services 
were such as to secure his re-election. 

Soon after this his party elected him to the United States 
Senate over John Randolph, who had previously occupied that 
seat. Mr. Tyler, upon being elected, expressed the following 
sentiments : 

" The principles on which I have acted, without abandon- 
ment in any one instance for the last sixteen years, in Congress 
and in the legislative hall of this State, will be the principles 
by which I shall regulate my future political life." 

Mr. Tyler began his duties as Senator by the most earnest 
opposition to all the political principles of the President, John 
Quincy Adams. 

On the question of nullification he took sides with Calhoun. 
This placed him so much in opposition to Jackson during his 
administration, that it resulted in Mr. Tyler's retirement from 
the Senate. 

On returning to Virginia he resumed the practice of law, in 
addition to which he was again returned to the State Legisla- 
ture. About this time party lines had so changed that Mr. 
Tyler found himself in the ranks of what were then termed 
Southern Whigs, which might be described as a compromise 
between the Democrats and the true "Whigs. 

In 1839 he was sent by this new party as a delegate to nomi- 
nate a candidate for the Presidency at the national convention 
at Harrisburg. In this convention General Harrison was nomi- 
nated for the Presidency and John Tyler for the Vice-Presi- 
dency. 

The grand and enthusiastic campaign which followed, re- 
sulting in the election of Harrison and Tyler, can never be 
forgotten. 

In 1841 Mr. Tyler was inaugurated Vice-President, and in one 
month after President Harrison died, leaving Mr. Tyler to 
occupy the vacant chair. 

After his inauguration Mr. Tyler found himself in strange 



JOHN TYLER. 



201 



opposition to the party which had elected him, and almost im- 
mediately antagonisms sprang up. His first extreme measure 
was to veto the bill passed by the Whigs for the establishment 
of a United States fiscal bank. The breach was made wider by 
Mr. Tyler suggesting a bill which he would approve. This bill, 
after being drawn up and announced by him as satisfactory, 
was passed. Then he vetoed it. His friends claimed that he was 
led to this action by a sarcastic letter from John M. Botts, of 
Virginia, published in the newspapers. 

Being denounced by the Whig party, who had elected him, 
he now turned to his old party, the Democrats. The Whig 
members of his Cabinet resigned, and Mr. Tyler was denounced 
in public meetings of the party. 

The position was a most unpleasant one to Mr. Tyler, and he 
attempted to follow a conservative policy by selecting his 
Cabinet from both parties. This naturally gave offense to the 
Democrats without securing the confidence of the Whigs. 

His entire administration was a series of conflicts with one 
party or the other ; in his efforts to please both he pleased 
neither, and in his endeavor to conciliate one he stirred up the 
wrath of the other. 

On the 4th of March, 1845, Mr. Tyler, after having labored 
earnestly for the election of James K. Polk as his successor, 
stepped down from the executive chair of the nation and passed 
out of politics with evidently a feeling of great relief both to 
the public and himself. 

Having the misfortune to have lost his first wife in 1842, he 
had again married in 1844. and was passing the days of his 
retirement with a young and beautiful companion who more 
than recompensed him for all the vanities of political life. 

We cannot close the short biography of his life without 
recording one more political era in his eventful history. When 
the Southern States attempted to secede from the Union and 
raised the bold arm of rebellion, Mr. Tyler, true to his old 
nullification principles, espoused the cause of the Confederacy 
and was elected to their Congress. It was while thus engaged 
that he sickened and died, leaving a still more unenviable 
memory by this last political action of his life. 



JAMES K. POLK. 



James Knox Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North 
Carolina, on the 2d of November, 1795, and was the oldest of 
ten children. His father was Samuel Polk, a son of Ezekiel 
Polk, who emigrated from Ireland. The family was of Scotch 
origin, but having moved to Ireland at an early period in their 
history, their original name, Pollock, was corrupted by the 
Irish into Polk. 

Samuel Polk married Jane Knox, after whom her oldest son 
was named. Samuel not possessing an abundance of this 
world's goods, was not firmly bound to the soil of his native 
State, and so he followed the tide of emigration with his young 
family over the mountains to Tennessee, where he settled upon 
Duck River, in what afterward become the County of Maury. 

Here James K. Polk passed his boyhood in the humble posi- 
tion in life which his parents occupied. Here was formed his 
manly and self-reliant disposition ; here were imbibed those 
principles of economy, industry, integrity and virtue, which 
adorned his ripened manhood. He not only assisted his father 
on the farm, but accompanied him on his surveying excursions, 
where for weeks they trod the dense forests and penetrated 
the almost impassable canebrakes, exposed to all the changes of 
weather and dangers and vicissitudes of a life in the woods. 

Being strongly inclined to study, he sought every opportuni- 
ty for improving his mind, and a profession was the great end 
at which he aimed. In July, 1813, he was placed under the 
tuition of Dr. Henderson. Subsequently he was sent to the 
Murf reesborough Academy, where in less than two years and a 
half he was sufficiently advanced to enter the University of 
North Carolina, from which he graduated in June, 1818. 

In 1819 he entered the law office of Felix Grundy, at Nash- 



204 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



ville, who was at that time at the head of the Tennessee bar. 
Within two years from the time he entered the office of Mr. 
Grundy, Mr. Polk had passed his examination, and in 1820 he 
was admitted to the bar. He then returned to Maury County 
and established himself in practice at Columbia among the 
friends of his boyhood. 

His first public services were performed as chief clerk of the 
House of Representatives of Tennessee. In 1823 he was elected 
to the Legislature by a heavy majority, where he remained for 
two successive years. His most conspicuous work while in the 
Legislature was to secure the passage of a law designed to pre- 
vent dueling. 

On the 1st of January, 1824, an important event took place in 
his life, which was no less than his marriage to Miss Sarah 
Childress, the daughter of a wealthy merchant of Rutherford 
County, Tennessee. Mr. Polk was fortunate in his choice. To 
the charms of a fine person she united intellectual accomplish- 
ments of a high order, and was well fitted to adorn any station. 

In the spring of 1825 Mr. Polk offered himself to the electors 
of the sixth or Duck River district as their candidate for Con- 
gress, and in the August election he was chosen by a most flat- 
tering vote, and as an evidence of his high appreciation in the 
minds of his constituency, he was repeatedly returned for four- 
teen years m succession. In Congress he was punctual and 
prompt in the performance of every duty, and firm and zealous 
in the maintenance and advocacy of his opinions. His speeches 
were always to the point; always clear and forcible. He made 
his debut as a speaker in advocating an amendment to the Con- 
stitution giving the choice of President and Vice-President 
directly to the vote of the people. 

Among the prominent recommendations of President Adams 
which Mr. Polk zealously resisted were the Panama Mission 
and that class of measures, the chief features of which were an 
extensive system of internal improvements and a high protec- 
tive tariff, usually comprehended under the general designa- 
tion of "the American System." From his entrance into 
public life his adherence to the cardinal principles of the 
Democratic creed was singularly steadfast, and he stood firmly 



JAMES K. POLK. 



205 



for General Jackson previous to and during his entire adminis- 
tration, and was one of the earliest opponents of the re-charter 
of the United States Bank. 

When the members of the Twenty-fourth Congress assembled 
at the Capitol, in December, 1835, Mr. Polk was selected by 
general consent by the friends of the administration as their 
Speaker, to which position he was elected by a large majority. 
Mr. Polk occupied the Chair of the House during five sessions. 
During the first session more appeals were taken from his 
decisions than was ever before known ; but he was uniformly 
sustained by the House, and frequently by the most prominent 
members of the opposition. Being perfectly familiar with 
parliamentary law, he was ever prompt in his decisions. 
Questions of order might be multiplied until the whole busi- 
ness of the House seemed irretrievably confused, but he would 
instantly unravel the knot and restore order. 

In adjourning the House on the 4th of March, 1839, and ter- 
minating forever his connection with the body of which he 
bad been so long a member, Mr. Polk delivered a farewell ad- 
dress of more than ordinary length, and characterized by deep 
feeling, in which he mentioned that only five members were 
there with him at leaving who were members when he took 
his seat fourteen years before. 

Still higher honors awaited Mr. Polk on his return to Tennes- 
see. At the urgent solicitations of his friends he consented to 
become a candidate for the office of Governor of the State. 
The Democracy had been in a measure disheartened by the 
defeats they had experienced since the secession of Judge 
White, Mr. Bell and their friends from the party, and they 
needed some leader possessing a powerful hold upon the affec- 
tions of the people. Such a leader was Mr. Polk. The canvass 
was a warm and spirited one, with an uncertain issue. The 
State had been for years in the hands of the opposition, and 
they now rallied with enthusiasm and alacrity in support of 
Governor Cannon, the incumbent of the office, who was a 
candidate for re-election, and a man of great popularity. 

Mr. Polk had his abilities put to a severe test in the canvass, 
but as a stump speaker he was invincible, and he flew, as it 



206 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS 



were, from one end of the State to the other, and addressed the 
citizens of every county. His exertions were rewarded with 
the success they deserved, and he was elected over Governor 
Cannon by upward of twenty-five hundred majority, and on 
the 14th of October took the oath of office at Nashville, and en- 
tered upon the discharge of the executive duties. 

In August, 1841, he was a candidate for re-election, but the 
whirlwind which had prostrated the Democratic party in 1840 
throughout the Union made his success impossible. In 1848 he 
was a candidate for the third time, but his opponent was elected 
by nearly four thousand majority. 

The Presidential campaign in 1844 opened with a great politi- 
cal issue, that of the annexation of Texas. This magnificent 
territory had just been wrested from Mexico by Sam Houston 
and his brave Texan army, and now stood as an independent 
republic asking for admission into the Union. There was 
strong opposition in the North to thic annexation through an 
earnest desire to prevent the extension of slavery, and it was 
plain that this was to be the issue of the Presidential campaign. 

In reply to a letter from a committee of the citizens of Cin- 
cinnati to Mr. Polk, asking for his views on the subject, he 
closed with the following true American sentiment : 

" Let Texas be annexed, and the authoritiy and laws of the United States 
be established and maintained within her limits, as also in the Oregon Ter- 
ritory, and let the fixed policy of our Government be, not to permit Great 
Britain or any other foreign power to plant a colony or hold dominion over 
aDy portion of the people of Territory of either." 

This letter placed Mr. Polk so favorably before the National 
Democratic Convention at Baltimore, which assembled on the 
24th of May, 1844, that on the eighth ballot he was brought 
forward as a candidate for the Presidency, and at the mention 
of his name harmony was brought out of confusion. On 
the ninth ballot he received nearly all the votes of 
the members, and the nomination was subsequently made 
unanimous. George M. Dallas was then chosen as the candi- 
date for Vice-President, and the Democratic party had launched 
out before the country with the names of Polk and Dallas at 
the masthead. 



JAMES K. POLK. 



207 



The candidates selected by the Whig party were Henry Clay, 
of Kentucky, for President, and Theodore Frelinghuysen, of 
New Jersey, for Vice-President. The nomination of Mr. Polk 
was met with a spirit of enthusiasm that could not fail to tri- 
umph. The canvass was conducted with great spirit and ani- 
mation. Mass meetings were held in every county, and pro- 
cessions with music and banners were daily seen traversing the 
roads and byways of the interior or the crowded thoroughfares 
of our large towns and cities. 

The opposition to Mr. Polk also made a lively contest, and 
among their campaign songs was one which began : 

'* James K. Polk and George M. Dallas; 
One for h— 1 and 'tother for the gallows!" 

But, in spite of this Whig prophetic rhyme, the Democrats 
triumphantly landed Mr. Polk in the Presidential chair, and 
instead of the gallows, Mr. Dallas, as Vice-President, became 
Speaker of the Senate. Mr. Polk received one hundred and 
seventy electoral votes and Mr. Clay one hundred and five. 

On the 4th of March, 1845, Mr. Polk was inaugurated Presi- 
dent of the United States, and delivered a fine and appropriate 
inaugural address, setting forth many of the principles which 
would govern him in his execution of the trust confided to him. 

Mr. Polk selected his Cabinet from among the most distin- 
guished m embers of the Democratic party, each part of the 
Union being represented. 

The first question of importance which arose in Mr. Polk's 
administration was that of our title to Oregon. The Baltimore 
convention had resolved that the American title to the whole 
of Oregon was " clear and unquestionable." Mr. Polk was 
pledged to this resolution, and it was mainly owing to his firm 
determination that this vexed question was forever settled in a 
spirit of amity and concord. 

Almost immediately after the treaty of annexation of Texas 
was concluded with the United States, Mexico officially pro- 
nounced the treaty of annexation absolutely " a declaration of 
war between the two nations," and Santa Anna, the President 
of Mexico, in a statement made on the 12th of June, 1844, de- 



208 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



elared it to be the firm determination of Mexico to reconquer 
Texas. This announcement was followed by a requisition for 
thirty thousand men and four millions of dollars to carry on the 
war, which it was threatened would be one of extermination. 
President Herrera, the successor of Santa Anna, also issued a 
proclamation on the 4th of June, 1845, and two decrees of the 
Mexican Congress were affixed providing for calling out all 
the armed forces of the nation, and on the 12th of July orders 
were given to the Army of the North to prepare to take the 
field. 

Diplomatic intercourse being suspended, and a state of war 
declared to exist, no alternative was left to the United States 
but that of extending their authority over Texas without further 
reference to Mexico. After some time had passed in our use- 
less attempt to treat with Mexico on the subject, General Taylor 
was instructed, on the 13th day of January, 1846, to advance 
and occupy with his troops positions on or near the east bank 
of the Eio Grande as soon as it could be conveniently done. He 
was further directed to commit no act of hostility or aggression ; 
not to enforce the common right of navigating the river, or to 
treat Mexico as an enemy unless she assumed that character, 
but to repel any attack, and if hostilities were commenced by 
the Mexican troops, to adopt such offensive measures as he 
might deem advisable. 

In fulfillment of his instructions, General Taylor broke up his 
encampment at Corpus Christi, and reaching the Eio Grande 
near Matamoras, fortified his position and placed his artillery 
so as to cover the approaches. Soon after this the Mexican 
army, under command of General Arista, crossed the Rio Grande 
in force, intending to surround General Taylor's position and 
compel him to capitulate. 

On the 24th of April a body of Mexican lancers committed 
an unprovoked attack upon a party of American troops sent 
out to observe the movements of Arista. Congress, immedi- 
ately on receipt of the news, passed an act declaring that war 
existed by the act of Mexico, and the President was authorized 
to accept the services of fifty thousand volunteers, and the sum 
of ten millions of dollars was appropriated to carry on the war. 



JAMES K. POLK. 



209 



After this the movements upon the part of our armies were 
so vigorously conducted that the victories of Palo Alto, Resaca 
de la Palma, Monterey, Vera Cruz, Chapultepec, and finally 
the City of Mexico, followed in rapid succession, resulting not 
only in our possession of Texas, but also of New Mexico and 
Upper and Lower California. 

Thus ended the war, and when Americans to-day look upon 
the great and wealthy territory secured thereby, it is not prob- 
able that any one will fail to thank Mr. Polk for his firm 
position in bringing on the conflict. The value of gold alone 
in California can never be adequately estimated. 

The remainder of Mr. Polk's administration, after the close 
of the Mexican war, was quiet and not marked by any par- 
ticular conflict with the opposition. While signing the appro- 
priation bill of the million dollars for treaty purposes with the 
celebrated Wilmot proviso, Mr. Polk expressed his regrets 
that sectional feelings and animosities should be so needlessly 
kindled and aroused. 

The adjournment of Congress, which closed Mr. Polk's po- 
litical administration, took place on the 3d of March, 1849, and 
the 4th being on Sunday, his successor was inaugurated on the 
5th, on which day Mr. and Mrs. Polk took leave of their 
friends, and in the evening commenced their return journey to 
their home in Tennessee. All along his route through Rich- 
mond, Wilmington, Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans and 
every place he passed, a grand ovation and welcome awaited 
him from the enthusiastic citizens 

Reaching his beautiful home in Nashville, which he had pur- 
chased but a short time before, he gave himself up to the com- 
forts and pleasures of his home and devoted his time to its im- 
provement. He had, however, only been at his home a few 
weeks, when a disease similar to the scourge of cholera, which 
was then raging in the valley of the Mississippi, struck him 
down, and in a few days, despite the best medical skill, he 
quietly sank to sleep forever, on the 15th day of June, 1849, in 
the 54th year of his age, and J ames K. Polk was no more of 
earth. 



ZACHARY TAYLOR. 



Zachary Taylor, like so many other of his illustrious prede- 
cessors, was born in Virginia in 1784, Orange County in that 
State having the honor of his birth. His family were among 
the oldest settlers of the State. At an early period in the life 
of young Zachary, his father, Colonel Richard Taylor, moved 
to Kentucky, and settled in the unbroken forest near where 
Lexington now stands. There all the prowess of the Taylor 
blood was brought into requisition in the desperate encounters 
with the Indians and wild beasts of the wilderness, and from 
the brave record of Colonel Taylor it was evident that his son 
Zachary inherited part of his military ambition. 

The advantages of education in that thinly settled country 
were very slender, and necessitated for the early education of 
Zachary a private tutor. While very ready to receive instruc- 
tion it was evident at that early period of his life that he 
would have preferred fighting Indians, and he was even then 
looking forward to the profession of arms as his future voca- 
tion. The cruel and barbarous warfare of the savages at that 
time was sufficient incentive to arouse all the martial spirit of 
youth. 

In view of his early surroundings it is but natural that we 
should find him entering the United States Army as a lieu- 
tenant, in 1808. It was scarcely a year previous to this that the 
outrage upon the United States frigate Chesapeake had been 
perpetrated by the commander of the British man-of-war 
Leopard, and it is probable that the prospects of an early war 
with England induced young Taylor to hasten his adoption of 
the military profession. At that time the two natural enemies 
of America were the Indians and the English, and when young 
Taylor buckled on his sword it was with an eagerness to wield 



212 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



it against the foe which had heaped so many wrongs upon our 
country. 

During the four years, from 1808 to 1812, Lieutenant Taylor 
had been promoted to the rank of captain, and had been doing 
service in the "West in looking after predatory bands of savages 
and in influencing the tribes to peace by military presence. 

In 1812 Captain Taylor was placed in command of Fort Har- 
rison, an important post in Indiana, situated amongst the hos- 
tile savages. At this time war with Great Britain had begun, 
and the post of Detroit had been surrendered to the British by 
Hull. This had emboldened the Indians to take up the toma- 
hawk against the Americans, and they almost immediately 
began a cruel and relentless border warfare. 

In September they began to approach Fort Harrison in a 
manner that attracted the attention of Captain Taylor. Imme- 
diately he began to put the fort and garrison in condition to 
meet a surprise and stand an attack of the wily foe. The post 
was, unfortunately, an unhealthy one, and out of a garrison of 
fifty men scarcely twenty were in condition for duty, while 
Captain Taylor was himself only recovering from a severe ill- 
ness. 

The fort consisted of only a few log cabins, with block-houses 
at the corners, the entire inclosure being protected by pickets. 
On the 3d of September the fort had been thrown on its guard 
by finding two of their men dead and scalped some distance 
from the fort, and when a party of Indians arrived with a 
white flag and pretentions of friendship on the 4th, Captain 
Taylor at once anticipated a surprise and prepared for it by the 
utmost vigilance both day and night. 

At about midnight the garrison was aroused to action by the 
gun of a sentinel, and instantly Captain Taylor ordered every 
man to his post. In a moment all was excitement ; one of the 
block-houses had been set on fire by a lighted arrow from the 
savages, and the stores containing whisky blazed up fiercely, 
while the yelling savages swarmed at the pickets in their desper- 
ate attempts to climb over. Nothing but the cool head and 
military skill of Captain Taylor saved the fort, its garrison and 
the helpless women and children. With all the courage and 



ZACHARY TAYLOR. 



213 



coolness of a veteran he cheered and ordered his followers, and 
with great skill directed the men who were fighting the fire 
how to prevent its spread to the other buildings. Victory de- 
pended on preventing the spread of the fire, for if once past 
control it would have destroyed the barrack walls and left them 
at the mercy of the savages. During the night the fire was got 
under control, and a hotter fire was directed against the savages, 
who fiercely returned it until daylight the next morning, when 
they withdrew, disheartened at their defeat and heavy loss, 
which could not be known. 

This gallant defense bestowed on Captain Taylor the highest 
praise, and Major-General Hopkins, in his dispatch to Governor 
Shelby, said of him: " The firm and almost unparalleled defense 
of Fort Harrison by Captain Zachary Taylor has raised for 
him a fabric of character not to be affected by my eulogy. 5 ' 
For this gallant service he was soon after promoted to the rank 
of Major. 

In the subsequent service of Major Taylor during the war, he 
had no particular opportunity to distinguish himself, beyond 
the favorable report of General Hopkins, who mentioned him 
as " rendering prompt and efficient aid in every instance." 

At the close of the war of 1812, he resigned his commission 
and returned home for a time, but his military spirit could not 
brook farm life, and securing his old commission, he again 
entered the army, and was not long in being promoted to the 
rank of colonel. Soon after this he participated in the Black 
Hawk war, and made himself conspicuous to the fullest extent 
of the opportunities of his position. From this time to the date 
of the Seminole war in Florida in 1837, his services were ren- 
dered on the frontier in all the tedious, laborious routine of 
regular service at the outposts, that is so seldom heard of out- 
side of the immediate location or the dry reports in the War 
Department. 

After the attempt of the United States Government to induce 
the Seminoles to retire beyond the Mississippi River had failed, 
Colonel Taylor received orders, on the 19th of December, 1837, 
to march at once upon them, and strike them whenever and 
wherever possible. 



214 



LIVES OF OUR, PRESIDENTS. 



Learning that Alligator, the Seminole chief, was encamped 
with his warriors near Lake Okeechobee, Colonel Taylor laid 
out a small stockade in which to deposit his heavy baggage and 
artillery, and, after leaving a suitable guard in charge of the 
depot, he pushed rapidly forward, and at the close of the day's 
long march he learned from some Indians that he had taken in 
a camp that his army was within a short distance of the chief 
Aviaka, or Saul Jones, and his Micasukies, and Alligator and 
the other Seminoles. 

At daylight the next morning Colonel Taylor resumed his 
march, and soon came upon a Seminole camp in which the fires 
were still burning . Resuming the march in the direction the 
Indians were supposed to have gone, the army soon reached a 
swamp, covered with immense grass and knee deep in water, 
and a still more uncertain depth of mud. This swamp being 
impassable for the horses and baggage, they had to be left be- 
hind under guard. Two companies of scouts were then sent 
ahead to reconnoitre, and Colonel Taylor, with the main body of 
the troops, passed rapidly through the swamp. They were 
soon met by a heavy lire from the savages from behind the 
trees, and Colonel Gentry being mortally wounded, his volun- 
teers broke and retreated in disorder to their horses and 
baggage. The Fourth and Sixth Regulars then pushed rapidly 
to the front, and drove the Indians before them. By this time 
the different commands had joined in the engagement, and the 
rout of the enemy became complete, the Indians being driven 
in every direction until night closed the action. 

Colonel Taylor, in his report, showed that in six weeks he had 
penetrated one hundred and fifty miles into the enemy's coun- 
try, opened roads, constructed bridges and causeways, estab- 
lished depots and defenses for the same, had overtaken and 
beaten the enemy, captured some and induced the surrender 
of more than one hundred and fifty, besides capturing and 
driving out of the country six hundred herds of cattle and 
over one hundred horses 

Thus Colonel Taylor's services may be claimed to have ended 
the Seminole war, although he still remained until 1840, induc- 
ing other chiefs and warriors to submit to the Government. 



ZACHARY TAYLOR. 



215 



In April, 1838, he received a commission as Brigadier-General. 
At the end of two years spent in Florida, General Taylor was 
transferred to the command of the Southern Department of the 
Army, embracing Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. 
In this department his main labors were the dull routine of 
military superintendence over the garrisons of the above States, 
and it was not until the Mexican War that he rose to that lofty 
position of prominence that made his name familiar to every 
schoolboy. 

After Texas fought for and won her independence from 
Mexico, she applied for admission into the Union as a State. 
Mexico had borne in silence and with an ill grace the inde- 
pendence of Texas, but the moment she realized that the 
"Lone Star " Republic was to be annexed to the United States, 
she very foolishly asserted that such an act would in itself con- 
stitute an overture of war on the part of the United States, 
which Mexico would at once resent by arms. 

In furtherance of this proclamation, the Mexican President 
called for thirty thousand soldiers and four millions of dollars. 
At this action on the part of Mexico, General Taylor was ordered 
to occupy a position at Corpus Christ i for the purpose of repell- 
ing any invasion of the State of Texas by Mexico. From this 
position he was next instructed to proceed westward, and soon 
reaching the Colorado, he found indications of a resistance of 
his further progress. He was warned by the Mexican com- 
mander noi to cross the river. He, however, made the passage 
of the Colorado on the 22d of March, 1846, and on the 24th, with 
a body of dragoons, reached Point Isabel. On the 28th he 
reached the Rio Grande opposite Matamoras, and fortified his 
position while General Ampudia was stationed in Matamoras, 
opposite, with the Mexican troops. 

General Arista now superseded Ampudia in command of the 
Mexicans, and General Taylor, ascertaining that the enemy 
had crossed the river above Matamoras, sent out sixty dragoons 
to reconnoitre their position. The Mexicans attacked this party, 
and, after killing ten men, captured tha remainder. 

This opened the war, and as soon as the news reached Con- 
gress, amid great excitement, an act was passed to the effect 



216 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



that war existed by the act of Mexico, and a call was made by 
the President for fifty thousand volunteers. 

The Mexican general now showed clearly an intention of 
throwing troops between General Taylor's camp and Point Isa- 
bel, to cut off the supplies of the American Army, and Captain 
Walker, of the Texas Eangers, reported having fallen back to 
Point Isabel before a force of about fifteen hundred Mexicans. 
On receiving this intelligence, General Taylor resolved to set out 
with the main part of his force for Point Isabel, leaving Major 
Brown in charge of Fort Brown and the works opposite Mata- 
moras. General Taylor reached Point Isabel on the 2d of May 
without encountering the enemy. On the 3d cannonading in 
the direction of Fort Brown was heard, and General Taylor 
sent out scouts to learn the cause. Ascertaining from them on 
the 6th that the Mexicans had attacked Fort Brown, he hastened 
to march to the relief of Major Brown, whose position was a 
critical one. For two days a terrific bombardment of the fort had 
been kept up from the Mexican batteries across the Rio Grande. 
On the 7th of May a force of Mexicans crossed the river and 
surrounded Fort Brown, from which position they opened fire 
with their artillery, and the fire upon the fort was fiercely kept 
up day after day until noon of the 8th, when General Taylor 
came up with his army and confronted the Mexicans on the 
plains of Palo Alto. The Mexican army of about six thousand 
men was drawn up in force with its batteries to meet the 
advancing American army, which numbered a little more 
than two thousand men, but was superior in artillery to the 
enemy. 

The Mexicans opened the battle with their artillery, which was 
immediately replied to by the Americans, and it raged fiercely 
during the remainder of the day. Our shot and shells and 
grape and cannister did fearful execution in the ranks of the 
Mexicans, while our troops, by throwing themselves upon the 
ground, escaped the bullets of the enemy as they harmlessly 
passed over their heads. Our loss was only four killed and 
thirty-two wounded, while that of the Mexicans was two hun- 
dred and sixty-two. 

During the hottest of the engagement the prairie grass was 



ZACHARY TAYLOR. 



217 



set on fire by the bursting of shells, and the sheets of flame and 
dense smoke added to the terrors of the scene. 

The Mexicans retreated during the night, leaving their dead 
and part of their wounded on the field. At daylight, General 
Taylor finding that they had disappeared, immediately started 
in pursuit of them, and soon came up with them posted in a 
ravine called Resaca de la Palma. The situation was a splendid 
natural position for defense, covered as it was with dense 
thickets, and it was evident that a desperate charge would be 
necessary to dislodge them. 

General Taylor began the attack with artillery, and the light 
artillery battery formerly commanded by Major Eingold was 
sent forward. It was here the celebrated charge of Captain 
May was made with his dragoons, to take a battery which was 
doing terrible execution among our troops. The battery was 
scarcely silenced before the American infantry and cavalry 
were pressing the Mexicans back until the retreat became a 
perfect stampede, and as battery after battery came to the front, 
the Mexicans were literally swept from the field, 

The Mexicans escaped across the river in the greatest disorder. 
The Americans took eight pieces of artillery, with a great 
quantity of ammunition, three standards and about one 
hundred prisoners, together with a large number of pack mules 
left in the Mexican camp. 

Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma became the enthusiastic 
shout of the excited volunteers, who were rapidly enlisting 
throughout the country. 

The next movement of General Taylor was made against 
Matamoras, and on the 18th of May, having secured boats for the 
purpose, he crossed the river with his troops and took posses- 
sion of the town, which the Mexicans had hastily evacuated. A 
body of troops sent to reconnoitre their retreat brought in 
twenty-two prisoners, and thus ended the peaceable occupation 
of Matamoras. 

"While waiting at Matamoras for further instructions, General 
Taylor received official information of his promotion to the 
rank of Major-General, together with a resolution of thanks 
from Congress. 



218 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



On the 5th of August General Taylor began his march from 
Matamoras to Camargo, which place he intended to make the 
base of his operations. Reaching Camargo, he sent General 
Worth to Seralvo, to hold the position until the approach of the 
main army. On the 7th of September General Taylor left 
Camargo and marched with the main army to Seralvo, from 
which place he hastened to Monterey. It was General Taylor's 
belief , as he approached nearer Monterey, that the enemy would 
make a vigorous attempt to hold it, and upon approaching in 
sight of the city he learned that he would be compelled to 
oppose a force of ten thousand Mexicans with his force of six 
thousand. 

''The configuration of the heights and gorges, in the direc- 
tion of the Saltillo road," said General Taylor, *'led me to 
suspect that it was practicable to turn all the works in that 
direction, and thus cut the enemy's line of communication." 

In accordance with this opinion of General Taylor, he ordered 
a close reconnoissance of the ground in question by the corps 
of engineers under Major Mansfield. This reconnoissance 
proving the entire practicability of throwing forward a column 
to the Saltillo road, and turning the position of the enemy, or- 
ders were given to General Worth, commanding the Second 
Division, to march with his command on the 20th ; to turn the 
hill of the Bishop's Palace; to occupy a position on the Saltillo 
road, and to carry the enemy's detached works in that quarter 
wherever practicable. 

General Worth's division had scarcely taken up its line of 
march before it was discovered that his movements had been 
observed by the enemy, and that they were throwing reinforce- 
ments toward the Bishop's Palace and the height which com- 
manded it. To divert the attention of the enemy, the First Di- 
vision, under Brigadier-General Twiggs, and the Field Division 
of volunteers, under Major-General Butler, were displayed in 
front of the town until dark. During the night two 24-pound 
howitzers and a 10-inch mortar were placed in position to open 
fire on the city the next morning, to make a diversion in favor 
of General Worth, the latter having secured a good defensive 
position during the night above the Bishop's Palace. 



ZACHARY TAYLOR. 



Early the next morning General Worth sent a note to Gene- 
ral Taylor, requesting the diversion against the centre and left 
of the town to favor his enterprise against the heights in the 
rear. To further this plan, the infantry and artillery of the 
First Division and Field Division of volunteers were ordered 
under arms, and took the direction of the city, leaving one 
company of each regiment as a camp guard. The Second Dra- 
goons, under Lieutenant-Colonel May, and Colonel Wood's 
regiment of Texas mounted volunteers, under the immediate 
direction of General Henderson, were directed to the right to 
support General YsF orth if necessary, and to make an impres- 
sion if practicable upon the upper part of the city. The First 
and Third regiments of infantry and battalion of Baltimore and 
Washington volunteers, with Captain Bragg's field battery, 
the whole under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Garland, 
were directed toward the lower part of the town, with orders 
to make a strong demonstration and carry one of the enemy's 
advanced works, if it could be done without too heavy loss. 
In the meantime the mortar and the howitzer battery had 
opened their fire upon the citadel. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Garland's command had approached the 
town in a direction to the right of the advanced work No. 1, 
and the engineer officers, covered by skirmishers, had suc- 
ceeded in entering the suburbs and going under cover. The 
remainder of this command now advanced and entered the 
town under a heavy fire of artillery from the citadel and the 
works on the left, and of musketry from the houses and small 
works in front. About this time Captain Backus, with a por- 
tion of the First Infantry and other companies, had gained the 
roof of a tannery and poured a destructive fire down upon work 
No. 1, which aided the advance upon it in the front, resulting 
in its capture, together with the strong buildings in its rear. 
With the work was also taken five pieces of artillery, a consid- 
erable supply of ammunition and thirty prisoners. 

This gave our troops a foothold in that part of the city. An 
attempt was then made to capture the works No. 2, and parts 
of several regiments were pushed forward for that purpose, but 
as a battery which was to support them had withdrawn to work 



220 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



No. 1, and as evening was approaching, it was thought advis- 
able by General Taylor to order all the troops back to camp, 
except Captain Ridgely's battery and the regular infantry of 
the First Division, who were detailed as a guard for the works 
during the night. 

Although heavy loss, embracing many officers, had accom- 
panied the day's accomplishment at the front of the city, it had 
resulted in a diversion of the Mexicans from the movements of 
General Worth in the rear, who had succeeded in gaining a 
position on the Saltillo road, thus cutting the enemy's line of 
communication. From this position the two heights south of 
the Saltillo road were carried in succession, and the gun taken 
on one of them turned against the Bishop's Palace. 

The 22d of September passed without any active operations 
in the lower part of the city. The citadel and other works con- 
tinued to fire at every American within range, and especially 
at the work occupied by our troops. 

At the dawn of day the height above the Bishop's Palace was 
carried, and by noon the Palace itself was taken and its guns 
turned upon the fugitive garrison. 

During the night of the 22d the enemy evacuated nearly all 
their defenses ia the lower part of the city, and General Taylor, 
on the morning of the 28d, sent instructions to General Quit- 
man, leaving it to his discretion to enter the city, covering his 
men by the houses and walls and advancing carefully as far as 
he might deem prudent. 

As soon as General Taylor learned that General Quitman was 
successfully forcing his way toward the principal plaza, he 
ordered up the Second Regiment of Texas mounted volunteers, 
who entered the city, dismounted and co-operated with General 
Quitman's brigade. Captain Bragg's battery was also ordered 
up, supported by the Third Infantry, and after firing at the 
cathedral for some time, a portion of it was thrown into the 
street. House by house and street by street, the brave troops 
advanced with destruction to the enemy and considerable loss 
to themselves. 

As General Quitman's brigade had been on duty the previous 
night, General Taylor decided to withdraw the troops to the 



2ACHARV TAYLOR. 



221 



evacuated works until the next morning. This order had scarcely 
been given when a note from General Worth announced that 
he was about to make a demonstration upon the city from his 
side, which had to a considerable extent been evacuated also. 
But it was then too late for General Taylor to issue new orders 
to co-operate with him. At eleven o'clock p. M. another note 
from General Worth announced that he had advanced to within 
a short distance of the principal plaza, and that the mortar 
which had been sent to his division had been doing excellent 
service. 

Early on the morning of the 24th, General Taylor received a 
communication from General Ampudia proposing to evacuate 
the town. General Taylor arranged a cessation of fire until 
twelve o'clock, at which time he was to receive the answer of 
the Mexican General at General Worth's headquarters. Upon 
a personal interview General Ampudia arranged with General 
Taylor for the capitulation of the town, together with most of 
the materials of war. 

Upon occupying the city it was discovered to be of great 
strength in itself, and to have its approaches carefully and 
strongly fortified. The town and works were armed with 
forty-two pieces of cannon and plentifully supplied with am- 
munition. 

Thus after three days' fighting was this strong city of the 
enemy taken. The force of the Mexicans engaged was 7,000 
regulars and about 3,000 irregular troops. The force under 
General Taylor consisted of 425 officers and 6,220 men. The 
artillery consisted of one 10-inch mortar, two 24-pound howitz- 
ers and four light field batteries of four guns each, the mortar 
being the only piece suitable to the operations of a siege. 

Our loss was twelve officers and one hundred and eight men 
killed, and thirty-one officers and three hundred and thirty- 
seven men wounded. The loss of the enemy, while not known, 
was very large, as the carnage in the streets was dreadful. 

Five months intervened after the capture of Monterey before 
the battle of Buena Vista, during which time General Taylor re- 
mained in the captured city with a very small army, the main 
portion of his troops having been drawn off to reinforce Gen- 



222 LIVES OUR PRESIDENTS. 

eral Winfield Scott, who had been made Commander-in-Chief 
of our land forces in Mexico. 

In February, General Taylor's army was increased to about 
6,000 troops, and on the 21st he broke camp at Aqua Nueva 
and took up a new position a little in front of the hacienda 
of Buena Vista. On the 22d, General Taylor was advised that 
the enemy was in sight, advancing. Upon reaching the 
ground it was found that his cavalry advance was in our 
front, having marched from Encarnacion, and driving in a 
mounted force left at Aqua Nueva to cover the removal of pub- 
lic stores. 

General Taylor's troops were m position, occupying a line of 
remarkable strength. The road at that point becomes a narrow 
defile, the valley on its right being rendered quite impracticable 
for artillery by a system of deep and impassable gullies, while 
on the left a succession of rugged ridges and precipitous ravines 
extends far back toward the mountain. The features of the 
ground were such as to nearly paralyze the artillery and caval- 
ry of the enemy. In this position General Taylor prepared to 
receive the enemy. 

At 11 o'clock he received from General Santa Anna a sum- 
mons to surrender at discretion. Santa Anna stated in the 
summons that he had Taylor surrounded by twenty thousand 
men, who would cut his troops to pieces if they resisted. 
General Taylor replied, declining to accede to Santa Anna's de- 
mand, and his words have become proverbial : ' ' General Tay- 
lor never surrenders." 

Soon after this a demonstration was made on the enemy's left, 
which General Taylor took steps at once to check by sending a 
detachment of infantry and artillery which took up a position 
on the right during the night. Not anticipating an attack 
before morning. General Taylor returned for the night to Sal- 
tillo, with the Mississippi regiment and squadron of Second 
Dragoons, where some 1,500 of the enemy's cavalry had been 
hovering about the town, evidently with the view of capturing 
the town or harassing the retreat of the Americans, as Santa 
Anna naturally expected them to retreat. After making ar- 
rangements for the protection of the rear, General Taylor re- 



iSACHARY TAYLOR. 



223 



ed, on iiig of the 23d, to Buena Yista, with all the 

available troops. 

The action had, however, commenced before his arrival. 
During the evening and night of the 22d the enemy had thrown 
a body of light troops on the mountain side for the purpose of 
outflanking General Taylor's left. This movement Colonel 
Marshall had gallantly checked, and with the troops under his 
command maintained his ground against a greatly superior 
force, holding themselves under cover and using their weapons 
with deadly effect. 

About 8 o'clock a strong demonstration was made against the 
centre of the American position, but this force was soon dis- 
persed by Captain Washington's battery. * In the meantime the 
enemy was concentrating a large force of infantry and cavalry 
under cover of the ridges, with the obvious intention of forcing 
our left. To check this advance General Lane ordered the 
artillery of Captain O'Brien and the Second Indiana forward. 
The artillery advanced within musket range of a heavy body of 
Mexican infantry, and was served against it with great effect, 
but without being able to check its advance, and the infantry 
having fallen back, Captain O'Brien found it impossible to retain 
his position, which was being raked by a murderous cross-fire 
of grape and canister from a Mexican battery on the left. This 
portion of our line then gave way. The Second Illinois and Cap- 
tain Sherman's Battery had been outflanked and compelled to 
fail back, and the enemy was pouring masses of infantry and 
cavalry along the base of the mountain on our left and was 
gaining our rear in great force. 

This was the situation when General Taylor arrived on the 
field. The Mississippi regiment had been directed to the left 
before reaching the position, and immediately came into posi- 
tion against the Mexican infantry, which had turned our flank. 
The Second Kentucky regiment and a section of artillery, under 
Captain Bragg, had been previously ordered from the right to 
reinforce our left, and arrived at a most opportune moment. 
That regiment, and a portion of the First Illinois, gallantly 
drove the enemy back and recovered a portion of the ground 
we had lost. The batteries of Captains Sherman and Bragg did 



224 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



much execution, not only in front, but particularly upon the 
masses which had gained our rear. The Third Indiana regi- 
ment was then dispatched to oppose the enemy, who were 
pressing upon the Mississippi regiment. This strengthened line 
repulsed the enemy again and again with heavy loss. General 
Taylor had placed all the regular cavalry under the orders of 
Brevet Lieutenant- Colonel May, with instructions to hold in 
check the enemy's column still advancing to the rear along the 
base of the mountain, which was done in conjunction with the 
Kentucky and Arkansas cavalry, under Colonels Marshall and 
Yell. 

The concentration of artillery upon the masses of the enemy 
along the base of the mountain, and the determined resistance 
offered by the two regiments opposed to them, had created con- 
fusion in their ranks, and some of the corps attempted to effect 
a retreat upon their main line of battle. A squadron of the First 
Dragoons was sent to disperse them. While the squadron was 
on this service a large body of the enemy concentrated on our 
extreme left to make a descent upon the hacienda where our 
train and baggage were deposited, and Lieutenant-Colonel May, 
with two pieces of Sherman's Battery, was ordered to the sup- 
port of that point, but before our cavalry had reached the 
hacienda, that of the enemy had made its attack and been driven 
back in two columns to the base of the mountain. Lieutenant- 
Colonel May having now been reinforced, approached the base 
of the mountain, holding in check the right flank of the enemy, 
upon whose masses, crowded in the narrow gorges and ravines, 
our artillery was doing fearful execution. The position of that 
portion of the Mexican army in our rear was now very critical, 
and it seemed doubtful whether it could regain the main body, 
but the extreme right of the enemy continued its retreat along 
the base of the moimtain and finally effected a junction with 
the main body. 

The firing on the principal field having nearly ceased, General 
Taylor had left the plateau for a moment, when he was called 
thither by a very heavy musketry fire, and found that the 
Illinois and Kentucky infantry had engaged a greatly superior 
force of the enemy, and they had been overwhelmed by nun> 



ZACHARY TAYLOR. 



225 



bers. The moment was most critical. Captain O'Brien had 
been compelled to leave his guns on the field, his infantry sup- 
port being entirely routed. Captain Bragg then arrived, and 
at the risk of losing his guns, came rapidly into action, the 
Mexican line being but a few yards from the muzzles of his 
guns. The first discharge of canister wavered the enemy, and 
the second and third drove them back in disorder and saved the 
day. 

No further attempt was made by the enemy to force our 
position, and the approach of night gave an opportunity to 
refresh our soldiers. During the night the wounded were re- 
moved to Saltillo, and seven fresh companies were drawn from 
the town, and Brigadier-General Marshall, with a reinforce- 
ment of Kentucky cavalry and four guns, was near at hand, 
when it was discovered that Santa Anna had abandoned his 
position during the night, and our scouts learned that he had 
fallen back upon Agua ISTueva. The great disparity of num- 
bers and the exhausted condition of our troops rendered it 
inexpedient and hazardous to give pursuit. 

General' Taylor, by a reconnoisance later in the day, found 
that Santa Anna's position was occupied only by a small body 
of cavalry, and that his artillery and infantry were retreating in 
the direction of San Luis Potosi in greatly reduced numbers, 
suffering from hunger and with the dead and dying strewing 
the road. 

The American force engaged at Buena Vista was officially 
shown to be 334 officers and 4425 men, exclusive of the small 
number left at and near Saltillo. The strength of the Mexican 
army, as stated by Santa Anna, was 20,000. Our loss was 267 
killed and 456 wounded and 23 missing. The Mexican loss in 
killed and wounded may fairly be estimated at 1,500 to 2,000. 
At least 500 of their killed were left on the field of battle. 

Thus ended the battle of Buena Vista, with the vaunted boast 
of Santa Anna that his 20,000 Mexicans would cut our little 
army to pieces if Gen. Taylor did not surrender. Considering 
the difference in numbers, it was one of the grandest victories 
ever won by American troops. 

The battle of Buena Vista was the last of General Taylor's ser- 



226 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



vices in the military field, and as he returned home his fame 
had everywhere preceded him, and his march was a grand tri- 
umph as he stopped from place to place on his route to receive 
the honors his countrymen poured upon him. In addition to 
his military honors, he had also been nominated as a candidate 
for the Presidency by the overwhelming enthusiasm of the peo- 
ple, and in November, 1848, he was elected, having received 163 
electoral votes, while his opponent, General Cass, received 127. 
He was inaugurated on the 5th of March, 1849, the 4th having 
fallen upon Sunday. 

His administration, though a quiet one, presented to him 
many difficulties which to the old soldier were harder to over- 
come than an enemy on the field. He was a good soldier, but a 
poor statesman, and was therefore compelled to rely greatly on 
his friends and cabinet for guidance in his administration. 
But both the nation and his particular friends and advisers 
anticipated that his practical good sense and honesty of pur- 
pose would soon be supplemented by a developed statesman- 
ship that would close his administration with credit. 

The disappointment to the country, however, was to come 
not from his failure to acquire the qualities necessary for meet- 
ing the demands of the executive position, but from another 
most unexpected and melancholy source — his death, which 
occurred on the 9th of July, 1850, a little over a year after his 
inauguration. 

The sorrow of the nation was deep, and the entire country 
engaged in solemn honor to the dead hero and President in 
processions and funeral orations. The services in Yvashington 
City, where he was temporarily interred, were particularly 
imposing. And two months later, when his remains were con- 
veyed to their last resting place at Louisville, Kentucky, the 
honors to the illustrious dead were renewed. 

" But strew his ashes to the wind, 
Whose sword or voice has served mankind, 
And is he dead whose glorious mind 
Lifts thine on high ? 
To live in hearLs we leave behind 
13 not to die," 



ZACHARY TAYLOR. 



And thus the old hero of Palo- Alto, Resaca de la Palma, 
Monterey and Buena Vista, whiie sleeping beneath the sod, still 
lives in the memories of his admiring countrymen. 



MILLARD FILLMORE. 



Millard Fillmore was the second Vice-President raised to the 
Executive chair by the death of the people's first choice, and 
the nation perhaps possessed at that time none better qualified 
to supply the vacancy than this polished statesman. 

The subject of our biography was born at Summer Hill, 
Cayuga County, N. Y., on the 17th of January, 1800, of poor 
but highly respectable parents. His early life was passed upon 
his father's farm, where young Fillmore did not differ from the 
typical country boy in his labors, sports and educational advan- 
tages, and it is said that he could catch fish equal with any of 
his youthful companions, and dive as far beneath the waters of 
the old mill pond as the best of them. 

His character had been molded in the right direction by the 
sacred teaching of a Christian mother, who had made the Bible 
the light of her home, and from its glorious truths instilled 
nobility into his soul. 

The log school-house was a prominent institution of his early 
life, and within its walls he acquired the foundation of the edu- 
cation which in later years was to raise him so far above his 
schoolmates; and what the poor facilities of the school failed to 
contribute to his mind was made up by the moral influence of 
his home and the practical information he was acquiring from 
observation. 

Thus he plodded along until he was fourteen years of age, 
when his father sent him to Livingston County to learn to 
weave cloth at a prominent mill. Here he would perhaps have 
settled down to the dull, monotonous life of a weaver, had it 
not been for an unexpected advantage presented at that time. 
He found in the neighboring village a small public library, which 
some enterprising men of the place had struggled to establish, 



23U 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



This to Fillmore was as the rose blossoming in the desert, and he 
devoted his leisure hours to storing his mind with this unexpected 
wealth. Selecting the most valuable books of the collection 
upon all general subjects of information, he became so well 
informed by the time he was nineteen years old that, in addi- 
tion to his fine personal appearance, he attracted the attention of 
a prominent lawyer and judge in the neighborhood, who, seeing 
in the young man the material for a life of more extended use- 
fulness, advised him to study law, and as young Fillmore was 
not able to stand the expense, the judge kindly took him into 
his law office and advanced him money when needed. 

Hope and determination now beat high in the young man's 
breast, when he could see a higher destiny in life for himself 
than that of a cloth- weaver, and he made every effort to advance 
in his studies, helping himself by teaching school and in various 
ways to meet his expenses without drawing on the generosity 
of his friend and instructor. 

After two years' study in the little village law office, Fillmore 
went to Buffalo to secure the higher advantages of study in the 
city, where he remained, still two years longer in his preparation 
for the bar. 

At the end of his two years' study in Buffalo, in 1823, he was 
admitted to the bar, and immediately afterward settled in Au- 
rora, in his native county, in the practice of his profession. 
Here his modest expectations were so fully realized that in 1826 
he took unto himself a partner, not in the practice of law, but 
in the domestic relations of his life. This lady, who honored 
the rising young lawyer in marriage, and was in turn honored 
by him, was the beautiful and accomplished daughter of the 
Rev. Lemuel Powers, and whatever of this world's distinction 
came to Mr. Fillmore in after life, he certainly looked back to 
those first years of his practice and married life as the sweetest 
in a]l his years on earth. 

His progress in the law was so marked that a partnership 
was offered him in Buffalo, and just as he was preparing to 
remove to that city he was elected as a member of the New 
York Legislature, to represent Erie County. The fact of his 
being a Whig, and the State bsing strongly Democratic at the 



MILLARD FILLMORE. 



231 



time, was a further proof of the popularity of the rising young 
lawyer. Being in a hopeless minority, it could not be expected 
that the young representative would be able to push through 
any important measures. He, however, devoted himself earn- 
estly to labor in behalf of the bill abolishing imprisonment for 
debt, and made a very eloquent speech, which won the admira- 
tion even of his opponents. For three years he faithfully 
devoted himself to the interests of his constituency, at the end 
of which lime he was rewarded by them with a seat in Con- 
gress. Here he remained for one term, and then returned to 
Buffalo, where he devoted himself more assiduously than ever 
to his profession. 

In 1837, at the earnest solicitation of his friends, he again 
accepted a seat in Congress, and during his term he attracted 
attention by the ability with which he discussed public measures 
and the firmness with which he opposed those he believed to be 
unsafe for the public good. At the time he took his seat in 
Congress the great conflict between President Jackson and Con- 
gress, on the subject of the National Bank, was raging fiercely, 
and being fanned into flame by the leaders of the contending 
hosts. The veto of the Bank Bill and the removal of the 
deposits had stirred the political opponents of Jackson until the 
greatest statesmen of the country were engaged in the discus- 
sion, and when Mr. Fillmore's voice could not be heard he was 
imbibing wisdom from his silent observation. At the close of 
his term he, in strange contrast to the ordinary aspiring Con- 
gressman, refused to be returned by his constituency, and once 
more retired to his favorite practice of his profession. 

Soon after this it became necessary for the Whig party to 
bring forward their strongest man in the State of New York as 
a candidate for Governor. This man was Millard Fillmore, 
and it was certainly more unfortunate for his party and the 
State that he was defeated than it was for himself. In the 
year 1847, however, the voters made amends by electing him 
Comptroller of the State. The duties of this important office 
so fully required his services at the State capital that he re- 
moved to Albany. Here he was in constant association with 
all the legislators and prominent men of his State, and it was 



232 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



but natural, both from his abilities and agreeable social man- 
ners, that he should become very popular. The Whigs, in cast- 
ing about for a strong candidate for the Vice-Presidency to be 
associated with the name of Zachary Taylor, selected Mr. Fill- 
more. This was a popular ticket, The old hero of Buena 
Yista was enshrined in the hearts of the American people, and 
they intended to elect him President. They did, and in doing so 
Mr. Fillmore became Vice-President of the United States. 

As presiding officer of the Senate, Mr. Fillmore exercised his 
duties with great dignity and firmness. Occupying that posi- 
tion at a time when fierce debates on the slavery question were 
frequently indulged in, and fiery personal remarks hurled from 
member to member, it certainly needed a firm man to main- 
tain order and keep down the warring elements. Such a man 
Vice-President Fillmore proved himself to be. John C. Calhoun 
had endeavored to establish the precedent when president of 
the Senate that he had no right to call a Senator to order for 
intemperate words spoken in debate. But Vice-President Fill- 
more, in his opening speech, announced that he should call 
Senators to order for the use of offensive language on all occa- 
sions. 

Very unexpectedly, however, Mr. Fillmore was soon to be 
called to a higher position. President Taylor, on the 9th of 
July, 1850, was taken ill, and in a few days died, which called 
Mr. Fillmore to the Executive chair of the nation. Almost his 
first conspicuous act was to select Daniel Webster as Secretary 
of State, and he likewise made other excellent appointments. 

He also deserves the highest credit for the manner in which he 
treated the Cuban filibustering movement, which was being 
set on foot to capture that island for the extension of slavery. 

The signs of the coming conflict on the slavery question 
were evident during his administration, and it required a firm 
hand on the reins of government to prevent the rashness of ex- 
tremists from precipitating ^ conflict. 

Such was the disturbed condition of public affairs during 
Mr. Fillmore's administration, and it was with £ sense of great 
relief that he retired from the office on tho 4th of March, 3853. 

In 1856 he was nominated for the Presidency by the "Know- 



MILLARD FILLMORE. 



£83 



Nothing" party, but was defeated by Mr. Buchanan, the 
Democratic candidate. 

After this, Mr. Fillmore mingled no more in politics, but re- 
tired to his home in Buffalo, where he lived a quiet and serene 
life until the 8th of March, 1874, when he died at the age of 
seventy-five years, honored by all as one of the purest and 
most upright of American statesmen. 



FRANKLIN PIERCE. 



Franklin Pierce belongs to the line of Presidents who were 
born too late to engage in the war of 1812, or in the memorable 
Indian wars of about the same date, but as one of the veterans 
of the Mexican war he won laurels which brought their weight 
of influence in the presidential canvass that elevated him to the 
executive chair of the nation. 

Mr. Pierce was born in New Hampshire on the 23d of 
November, 1804, the town of Hillsborough having the honor of 
his nativity. He was of old revolutionary stock, his father 
having been a soldier in the war for independence. His ser- 
vices for his country recommended him to his neighbors, and in 
civil positions he was frequently called upon by the people of 
his locality to serve them for the public good. This naturally 
made a zealous politician of him, and he made many a vigor- 
ous speech in opposition to the Federalists, and especially to 
John Adams, toward whom he was particularly antagonistic. 

It was thus that the mind of young Franklin Pierce was 
molded by that of his father into a true, honorable and patri- 
otic channel in his boyhood on the Bible principle that a boy 
raised in the way he should go will not depart from it in his 
after life. 

The boyhood life of Franklin Pierce was proverbial for the 
finest traits of character, and when he entered Bowdoin College, 
at the age of sixteen, the highest honors, both at college and in 
after life, were anticipated for him by almost all who knew him. 

At college he made such good progress that in four years he 
graduated, and at once began the study of law under Judge 
Woodbury in his native village, when, after the usual course of 
study, he began the practice of law, in which his admiring 
townspeople encouraged him by giving him their patronage. 



236 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS, 



It was not long before his services were sought for to repre- 
sent the county in the State Legislature, in which he served his 
constituency four years, during which time he rose to such 
prominence that he was elected Speaker of the House for two 
years. 

After this honors came so thickly on him that they seemed 
to tread upon each other's heels. In 1833 he was elected to Con- 
gress, where, true to his life-long principles of Democracy, he 
earnestly supported the administration of President Jackson. 

In 1837 he was called to a still higher position by his election 
to the United States Senate. Here, although the youngest 
member in the chamber, he won the respect and even admira- 
ation of the oldest and ablest statesmen there by the fluency of 
his speech and the soundness of his judgment. 

In the year 1838 he removed to Concord, the capital of his 
native State, where his law practice rapidly increased, whiles 
his almost universal popularity continued to grow. 

When President Polk was making up his cabinet, he offered 
the Attorney -Generalship of the United States to Mr. Pierce, 
who for business and domestic reasons was induced to decline 
the honor. But he had scarcely declined this position before 
the Eevolutionary blood in his veins was kindled into military 
ardor by the Mexican War, and, with a brigadier-general's com- 
mission and a body of troops, he embarked for Mexico on the 
27th of May, 1848. Peaching Mexico on the 28th of June, he 
disembarked his troops on the beach at Yirgara, and formed a 
junction with five hundred troops who were already in camp, 
training mules. Here General Pierce remained for about three 
weeks, drilling his troops and breaking in wild mules and mus- 
tangs for wagon service. 

On the 14th of July General Pierce began to break camp, 
and a long line of wagons took the Jalapa road for San Juan, 
followed the next morning by six companies of infantry. On 
the 16th, with the last of the troops and teams, General Pierce 
left the beach to follow the advance to San Juan. Of the inci- 
dents of this march General Pierce wrote as follows : 

"After much perplexity and delay, on account of* the unbroken and 
intractable teams, I left the camp this afternoon at 5 o'clock with 



FRANKLIN PIERCE. 



237 



the Fourth Artillery, Watson's Marme Corps, a detachment of the Third Dra- 
goons and about forty wagons . The road was very heavy, the wheels were 
sinking almost to the hubs in sand, and the untried and untamed teams 
almost constantly bolting in some part of the train. We were occupied 
rather in breaking the animals to harness than in performing a march. At 
ten o'clock at night we bivouacked in the darkness and sand by the wagons 
in the roads, having made but three miles from camp." 

At this season the heat was so terrific that marching in the 
middle of the day was not to be thought of. The march was 
therefore resumed at four o'clock the next morning, and reaching 
Santa Fe at eight A. M., the army went into camp again until four 
p. M. General Pierce had just given orders to break camp again, 
when the startling intelligence was brought in by two scouts 
that a body of Mexican cavalry, five hundred strong, were 
charging down the road to attack the troops. General Pierce 
immediately ordered the troops in line and commanded the 
road with artillery, but no enemy came in sight. 

The march was then resumed, and at four p. m., in a most ter- 
rific tropical rain, they arrived at San Juan. The rain con- 
tinued for several days and nights and flooded the camp, so 
that it was pleasanter to continue the march than sitting or 
lying in the mud and water. The march was thereupon re- 
sumed the next morning, and on the 20th the entire force 
arrived at Telema Nueva. After leaving this place, reconnoiter- 
ing bodies of Mexican cava]ry were seen, who, when pursued, hid 
in the dense chaparral and poured a hot fire upon the advance 
guard. General Pierce immediately ordered the artillery to 
disperse the enemy with canister, which was done so quickly 
that the Mexicans were not seen again. The enemy were so 
well under cover when they opened fire that for a time it was a 
spirited engagement, but American canister was too much for 
them. During the entire day the Mexican cavalry had been 
seen hovering upon distant hills watching the march of the 
Americans, and just as the troops were going into camp at 
Pasco de Orejas, a body of the horsemen approached so near 
that they were within easy range of a cannon. This opportu- 
nity for artillery practice was too good to be lost, and General 
Pierce ordered a few loads of canister sent into their midst, 
which dispersed them at once. 



238 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Leaving Pasco de Orejas the next morning, the army resumed 
its march, intending to make Puente Nacionale for their next 
camp. "When our army came in sight of the town, General 
Pierce, from a high hill, made a close examination with his 
glass of the fortifications of the place. Here he found a strong 
force occupying a bluff nearly two hundred feet high, which 
commanded the bridge and gave entrance to the town from the 
eastern side of the river. This bridge was also barricaded and 
defended by breastworks. 

With the military perception of a veteran officer, General 
Pierce brought forward his artillery and swept away the barri- 
cade, dispersing the Mexican cavalry stationed at the bridge. 
To distract the attention of the force on the hill General Pierce 
opened fire upon the heights with his artillery, while Colonel 
Bonham, with a force of picked men, charged the bridge and 
captured it so quickly that they had passed on and taken posses- 
sion of the village before the Mexicans on the summit knew 
what had been accomplished. They were therefore so com- 
pletely taken by surprise and panic stricken to see the Ameri- 
cans charging up the bluff, that they turned and fled, leaving the 
fortifications in undisputed possession of Colonel Bonham. 
When the stars and stripes were seen floating over the hill the 
main body of the army came rapidly into the town and found 
the victory so complete that not a Mexican soldier could be 
found to dispute the ground. 

In this engagement General Pierce had his hat pierced by 
one of the bullets which, for a time, rattled like hail around our 
troops from the Mexican fire from the hill. 

Encamping in this town for the night, the army was again 
in motion at an early hour the next day. Later in the day they 
came to a stream with precipitous banks, which had been 
spanned by a magnificent stone bridge, but the main arch had 
been blown up, leaving a break of sixty feet or more, which 
appeared to be impassable, but Captain Bodfish, one of the 
volunteers from Maine, came to the rescue, and with a detail 
of five hundred men, had bridged the archway in three hours 
with a road over which the army and baggage passed in safety. 

Near Cerro Gordo General Pierce made a forced march at 



FRANKLIN PIERCE. 



239 



the head of a body of cavalry at night, for the purpose 
of capturing the heights commanding the road over which his 
army would pass on the following day, and it was very im- 
portant that the enemy should not be allowed to harass his 
army from such an advantageous position. General Pierce set 
out in a hard rain and surrounded by pitchy darkness, and after 
advancing as near the heights as was safe, they slept on their 
arms until the first faint streaks of light guided their way, and 
charging the small body of Mexicans they found upon one of the 
heights, and throwing a few charges of canister into their midst 
from a six-pounder, they quickly dispersed them, and took pos- 
session of the hills, and the army passed safely over the road. 
That night they encamped at a beautiful hacienda belong- 
ing to Santa Anna, which had a pure stream of sparkling cool 
water running through it. 

At noon the next day the army arrived at Jalapa, whereafter 
a short halt through the heat of the day, they pushed on and 
encamped for the night beyond the town. Thus, day after day, 
under many difficulties of tropical heat, sickness of his men, 
terrific storms of rain and the more than usual obstacles of a 
march, General Pierce continued to lessen the distance between 
himself and the main army of General Scott, with whom he was 
to effect a junction. 

Of his arrival at the Castle of Perote General Pierce wrote as 
follows : 

41 1 reached the castle before dark, and Colonel Windcoop, who was in 
command of the castle, with Captain Walker's elegant company of mounted 
riflemen, kindly tendered me his quarters. But I adhered to a rule, from 
which I have never deviated on the march, to see the rear of the command 
safely in camp ; and when they pitched their tents, to pitch my own. The 
rear guard, in consequence of the broken condition of the road, did not arrive 
until nine o'clock, when our tents were pitched in darkness, and in the sand 
which surrounds the castle on all sides." 

The next day a detachment of cavalry arrived from General 
Scott, to learn the condition of General Pierce and his troops, 
and to assist them if in danger or render them aid in reaching 
the main army. 

After placing his sick in the hospital at the Castle of Perote, 



£40 LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 

General Pierce resumed his march and reached the main army 
under General Scott at Pueblo on the 7th of August. 

Thus ended the long and arduous march begun on the 13th of 
July, under a tropical sun and tropical rains and the constant 
dangers of an attack by the enemy, without the loss of a single 
piece of artilery or baggage and scarcely the loss of a man, 
the latter loss being either from sickness or from soldiers being 
killed while venturing away from camp. 

As socn as General Pierce arrived with the reinforcements, 
General Scott prepared at once to march upon and attack the 
city of Mexico. To prevent a surprise and to hold the Ameri- 
cans in check, Santa Anna had a force of seven or eight 
thousand soldiers at Contreras. This force General Scott iound 
it necessary for his plans to capture or cut them off from com- 
munication with the city of Mexico. To accomplish this he 
ordered a detachment of troops under disguise of their inten- 
tions to take possession of the strong position in the rear of the 
Mexican detachment. To distract the attention of the enemy 
from the real purpose, General Scott ordered General Pierce to 
advance with four thousand troops and attack the Mexicans in 
front . 

The assault was fiercely made and as fiercely met. The 
Mexicans were not only two to one, but they occupied a 
strongly fortified position, and the ground was so rough that 
the Mexican skirmishers could conceal themselves behind the 
rocks, from which they poured a murderous fire, The storm of 
shot and shell hurled by the Mexican gunners was terrific, but 
bad gunnery may be said to have saved General Pierce's troops 
from a signal defeat. 

During the hottest of the engagement, the horse of General 
Pierce, while being urged to the head of the column, slipped 
upon the rocks and fell, breaking his leg and falling heavily 
upon General Pierce, who was badly crushed by the fall, and 
suffered intensely from a sprained knee. A surgeon was im- 
mediately sent for, who rendered some immediate assistance to 
General Pierce where he lay under the shelter of the rock, by 
which he recovered consciousness and immediately asserted his 
intention of rejoining the troops. Another horse being secured, 



FRANKLIN PIERCE. 



241 



lie was assisted into the saddle, and although scarcely able to 
keep his seat, he hurried again to the front. 

When night closed the battle the rain was pouring down in 
sheets, but General Pierce remained in his saddle until near 
midnight, securing a sheltered position for his troops from the 
artillery of the enemy before he sought rest for himself, if such 
a term could be applied to tossing upon a wagon in the rain 
under the tortures of a sprained knee. 

During the night General Pierce received orders from General 
Scott to be ready for a fresh assault at daylight, and again, by 
the first glimpse of dawn, General Pierce had formed his men, 
and they were again dashing upon the enemy's front, while a 
fierce and unexpected charge was being made upon their rear. 
From such a charge and such a surprise there could be natur- 
ally but one result — the overwhelming of the Mexicans. In 
just seventeen minutes, by the official statement, our victory 
was complete, and the Mexicans fled in perfect demoralization, 
leaving many prisoners in the hands of the victorious Ameri- 
cans. 

General Pierce joined in the pursuit of the fleeing Mexicans, 
whc were found dead and dying all along the route of the ter- 
rified retreat, and the pursuit was kept up until almost under 
the walls of Cherubusco. 

Fearing that Santa Anna would reach the city of Mexico 
with his troops and strengthen the stronghold, General Scott 
ordered General Pierce's command to push rapidly forward and 
attack Santa Anna in the rear. Fearing that General Pierce 
was too weak for the un dertaking, General Scott tried to per- 
suade him to remain behind, but he pleaded so hard to go with 
his soldiers that General Scott yielded. He went, but his 
strength was not adequate, and in the hottest of the battle of 
Cherubusco he fell to the ground exhausted, and remained 
sending cheering words to his officers and men until Santa 
Anna proposed the armistice which ended the battle. General 
Pierce was selected by General Scott as one of the commis- 
sioners to treat with the Mexican general, but nothing was 
agreed upon, and it was plainly to be seen that it was only 
proposed by Santa Anna to gain time. 



242 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



On the 8th of September General Pierce was engaged in the 
bloody battle of Molino del Rey under General Worth, and 
assisted in the defeat of the enemy. In this engagement a shell 
burst within a few feet of General Pierce, and he sustained a 
severe shock from the concussion, and was soon afterward 
taken so ill that he could not engage in the assault upon Che- 
pultepec, which took place a few days after. 

But Genera] Pierce's military career was drawing to a close. 
Almost immediately after this the city of Mexico fell into our 
hands and the war was ended. 

In December General Pierce departed for his home, where he 
received an enthusiastic greeting from his friends and political 
admirers. Here, in resuming law and politics, he more fully 
than ever allied himself to the pro-slavery sentiment of the 
Democratic party, and the Southern wing of the party, in 
casting about in their minds for a suitable man who could 
carry certain Northern States, set their thoughts on General 
Pierce, and in the Democratic National Convention which met 
at Baltimore on the 12th of June, 1852, after a number of 
ballotings, General Pierce's name was brought forward, and, 
after some further balloting, he received two hundred and 
eighty-two votes, against eleven cast for other candidates. 

The candidate of the Whig party was General Winfield Scott, 
and grand old military hero that he was, his party could not 
stem the tide of Democratic opposition, and General Pierce was 
elected by an overwhelming majority. 

On the 4tli of March, 1853, he was inaugurated President of 
the United States, and began an administration which is mem- 
orable for the continual conflicts on the subject of slavery. 
Even then the coming events of the civil war were casting their 
shadows before. Even then the demands of slavery, the repeal 
of the Missouri Compromise, the battle for slavery or anti- 
slavery fought at the polls in Kansas with revolvers and bowie- 
knives, all pointed 0 like the needle to the pole, to the shock of 
battle and the red baptism of the battle-field. 

During President Pierce's administration he stood firmly for 
the South in all his actions, and tried to conciliate them wher- 
ever their will was thwarted. So marked were his pro-slavery 



FRANKLIN PIERCE. 



243 



sympathies that the popularity which had carried Northern 
States for him in his election was all gone from him, and when 
another Presidential campaign drew near, the Democratic party 
saw that defeat would be inevitable with President Pierce as 
their candidate. 

Thus on the expiration of his term Mr. Pierce retired to his 
home with almost 4 4 none so poor to do him reverence." Here 
domestic sorrows soon clouded his life by the sudden death of 
his only surviving child, followed soon by the death of his wife. 

From that date he lived quietly at Concord, almost forgotten 
by the outside world until his death in October, 1869, which 
left only his immediate friends and neighbors to mourn his 
departure. 



JAMES BUCHANAN. 



James Buchanan, the fifteenth President of the United 
States, was born at Stony Batter, Franklin County, Pennsyl- 
vania, on the 23d of Apri], 1791, and his early boyhood life was 
passed in one of the loveliest and most romantic spots among 
the Alleghany Mountains. The little farm of his father was 
located in a gorge of the mountain, with grand forests covering 
the slopes and beauteous nature in gayest attire. 

Such was the early home of James Buchanan, whose father 
had emigrated from Ireland in 1783 . and after marrying the 
daughter of a Pennsylvania farmer, had moved to this wild 
and romantic spot and built a log cabin and cleared a few acres 
for cultivation. Here, like the characteristic pioneer, he grew 
up with the country, as it were, and, being possessed of a good 
English education, became a leader in the county. His wife 
was also possessed of a superior mind and a fine literary taste, 
and with these qualities, coupled with a deep and earnest piety, 
she proved a most worthy mother, and deserves much credit 
for the success of her son. 

Both father and mother being anxious to give their son the 
benefit of a good education, removed when he was eight years 
of age to Mercersburg, where young James was instructed in 
English, Latin and Greek. Being a bright scholar, he made 
rapid progress in his studies, and at the age of fourteen he 
entered Dickinson College, at Carlisle, where he became one of 
the foremost students in the institution, and at the age of 
eighteen he graduated with the highest honors. 

It must not be thought, because of his early development of a 
manly, studious disposition, that young Buchanan was not 
possessed of the natural vivacity of a boy. His early life had 
been mixed with toil and recreation. He could hoe potatoes 



246 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



like an old farmer, and he could climb trees like a young 
monkey, and in all boyhood sports was unexcelled . True to 
boyish human nature, he dearly loved to fish and hunt. He 
could land more of the finny tribe and pop over more squirrels 
than almost any boy of his age, and as for eating either, his 
appetite was always good. 

In December, 1809, Mr. Buchanan went to Lancaster to begin 
the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1812. He rose 
rapidly in his profession, and soon became one of the foremost 
young lawyers in the State, and it is stated that his name ap- 
peared in the Pennsylvania reports more frequently than that 
of any other lawyer of his day. 

One of his most important and successful cases was his cele- 
brated defense in the Pennsylvania Senate, in 1816, of a prominent 
judge of the State, who was arraigned on articles of impeach- 
ment. It need scarcely be added that his client was cleared of 
the charge, and Mr. Buchanan's reputation rose to a higher 
point than ever. 

At the age of thirty he had become so prominent and popular 
that he was elected to Congress, to which position he was con- 
secutively returned for ten years, until he declined any further 
re-election. His object in refusing longer to occupy a seat in 
Congress was not from a desire to return to his legal practice, 
for in 1831 he retired from his profession to rest upon his honors 
and the competent fortune he had secured, 

In taking up the record of Mr. Buchanan's political life, we 
find him, in 1814, in a public meeting in Lancaster, calling upon 
the people to volunteer for the defense of our country against 
England; and setting the example, he himself became a volun- 
teer and marched to the defense of Baltimore. 

After this, in politics, Mr. Buchanan became a Federalist, until 
the acts of the party, which Mr. Buchanan could not indorse, 
brought it into bad repute, and he gradually espoused the doc- 
trines of the Republicans. One of Mr. Buchanan's first public 
acts was to oppose the establishment of a United States Bank. 

The first prepared speech delivered by Mr. Buchanan in Con- 
gress was in favor of a military appropriation bill to cover 
some deficiencies in the Indian Department. This was a most 



JAMES BUCHANAN. 



247 



able effort, and so attracted attention that the public news- 
papers of the time published it in full. 

Mr. Buchanan proved himself to be one of the most vigilant of 
Congressmen; one who constantly watched the interests of his 
constituency first and the general public good next. He was 
in every proper sense of the word an economist, wherever he 
believed the public funds too liberally dispensed, and on ap- 
propriation bills he was always ready to investigate their merits 
and speak upon any of their defects or extravagancies. During 
his first session in Congress he espoused the cause of General 
Jackson, when the conduct of the old patriot and soldier in 
Florida was being censured, and Mr. Buchanan was earnest in 
his efforts to have the charges investigated. In urging this upon 
Congress, he said : 

' The most serious consequences might be expected to result, 
if, after charges of this sort were made against an individual, 
the House should avoid meeting the questions; should put them 
to sleep by permanently laying them on the table. He for one 
was willing to meet the proper responsibility of declaring his 
opinion either of the guilt or innocence of this distinguished 
individual." 

But by far the most important speech delivered by Mr. 
Buchanan during his first session in Congress was on the Bank- 
rupt Law. This bill was insidiously drawn up at a time 
when the country was suffering so great a stagnation of 
general business and universal suffering of all classes, that the 
public were ready to fly to any plausible means of immediate 
relief. Mr. Buchanan had given this bill his careful attention, 
and just before it was taken up for a final reading, he secured 
the floor and delivered one of the most powerful speeches against 
the bill to which he ever gave utterance. The bill was so 
framed as to extend its benefits not only to the mercantile 
classes, but to every industry in the land, and Mr. Buchanan 
saw in this an open door to universal dishonesty and trickery; 
an invitation to wild and reckless speculation, and so utter a 
disregard of the conscientious obligations of credit that the 
very foundations of business would be subverted. This was 
the position he assumed against the bill. 



248 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



" Will you," said he, in one of his arguments, " pass a bankrupt law for the 
farmer ? Will you teach that vast body of our best citizens to disregard 
the faith of contracts ? Are you "prepared to sanction a principle by which 
the whole mass of society will be in danger of being demoralized? And it will 
be left to an election by every man's creditors, in which a majority of two- 
thirds in number and value against the consent of the remainder shall have 
the power of discharging him from all the obligations of his contracts. 
Surely the House of Representatives are not prepared to answer these ques- 
tions in the affirmative. No nation in the world, whether commercial or 
agricultural, whether civilized or savage, has ever for a moment entertained 
the idea of extending the operation of its bankrupt laws beyond the class of 
traders." 

At the close of his long and powerful speech the vote was 
taken on the bill and it was defeated, the vote being 99 against 
and 72 in favor. On the question of the tariff, brought up in 
the second session of the Seventeenth Congress, Mr. Buchanan 
expressly favored a tariff for revenue only. 

In the Eighteenth Congress, which convened on the first of 
December, 1823, Mr. Buchanan was placed on the Judiciary 
Committee. It was in this session that Mr. Buchanan first had 
the opportunity of measuring swords with Daniel Webster. 
Mr. Webster opposed the Tariff bill and Mr. Buchanan again 
favored it for revenue only. Henry Clay brought all his able 
powers to bear in favor of the bill, and General Jackson urged 
its passage in the Senate. Arrayed as were the giants of those 
days, the bill passed by only five majority in the House and 
three in the Senate. 

At this session of Congress Mr. Buchanan had publicly 
favored General Jackson for the Presidency. There were then 
four candidates in the field, General Jackson, Henry Clay, 
John Quincy Adams and W. H. Crawford, and before the 
meeting of the second session of this Congress it was known 
that the election of President would take place in the House, 
owing to neither candidate having received a constitutional 
majority of electoral votes, and this business was the most 
important and exciting which could possibly be brought up 
during the session. Upon this occasion Mr. Buchanan made 
himself conspicuous and popular by taking a firm stand against 
excluding the public from the galleries during the balloting 
for President. 



JAMES BUCHANAN. 



249 



This election in the House was one of the most conspicuous 
selections of a President made in the country, and as such is 
too familiar to the public to be particularized. The charge 
against Mr. Clay of ' 'bargain and sale" has long since been 
clearly refuted, but the blame of a conscientious public will 
ever rest upon his memory for declaring against the expressed 
will of the people in favor of General Jackson, simply because 
Mr. Clay was prejudiced against military Presidents. In this 
Mr. Buchanan was one of the first men to see that Mr. Clay 
had sacrificed all his brilliant prospects for the future. The 
people generally resent a disregard of their will, and their 
disapproval was plainly shown in the manner in which they 
placed the old hero of New Orleans in the Presidential chair at 
the next election by a majority that gave Congress no oppor- 
tunity to make a President they did not want. 

In the Nineteenth Congress an important debate took place on 
a bill from the Judiciary Committee. The bill was presented 
by Mr. Webster, chairman of the committee, and Mr. Buchanan, 
as a member of the committee, spoke upon the bill, against 
which much unexpected opposition had been raised. Mr. Buch- 
anan's speech was particularly able, and it has been asserted 
that no speech on a similar subject ever embraced such wide 
range of acquaintance with law and jurisprudence as did this 
effort of Mr. Buchanan. 

During this session of Congress Mr. Buchanan, with almost 
prophetic vision, opposed the mission to the Congress of Panama 
which President Adams proposed and Mr. Clay so enthusias- 
tically supported. Mr. Buchanan made a very able speech on 
the subject, in which, while giving his cordial support and 
recognition to the independence of the South American repub- 
lics, he earnestly protested against our forming any alliance with 
the hybrid races of the Southern Continent, which would result 
in constantly embroiling us in complications with other powers. 

One of the first bills which came up in the second session of 
the Nineteenth Congress was one for granting pensions to sur- 
viving officers of the Kevolution. In the face of much opposi- 
tion Mr. Buchanan defended this bill so ably that it finally be- 
came a law. 



250 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



In the Twentieth Congress, which assembled on the 3d of 
December, 1827, Mr. Buchanan entered vigorously into the 
arena in discussing important measures before the House. On 
the subject of retrenchment, he urged the application of the 
simplest rules of national economy. In reference to reducing 
the pay of Congressmen he said : 

" In relation to this question I formed a deliberate opinion six years ago, 
which my experience ever since has served to strengthen and confirm, that 
the per diem allowance of members of Congress ought to be reduced. As a 
compensation for our loss of time, it is at present wholly inadequate. There 
is no gentleman fit to be in Congress who pursues any active business at 
home, who does not sustain a clear loss by his attendance here. If we con- 
sider our pay in reference to our individual expenses, it is too much. It is 
more than sufficient to cover our expenses. I believe that the best interests 
of the country require that it should be reduced to a sum no more than 
sufficient to enable us to live comfortably while we are here." 

Soon after this, in a debate on this same bill, Mr. Buchanan 
reviewed Mr. Adams' administration, and in ventilating its many 
abuses he insisted upon a thorough investigation being made. 
" What, sir!" said he, with eloquent energy, "are we told that 
we shall not inquire into the existence of abuses in this Govern- 
ment, because such an inquiry might tend to make the Gov- 
ernment less popular ? This is new doctrine to me — doctrine 
that I never heard before on this floor. Liberty, sir, is 
a precious gift which can never long be enjoyed by any people 
without the most watchful jealousy. The very possession of 
power has a strong, a natural tendency to corrupt the heart. If 
the Government has been administered upon correct principles, 
an intelligent people will do justice to their rulers ; if not, they 
will take care that every abuse shall be corrected." 

Having occasion, in this same speech, to refer to the dress 
prescribed by the administration for our foreign Ministers, in 
his effective picture of this attempt to pattern after foreign 
courts, he said : ' ' Imagine to yourself a grave and venerable 
statesman, who never attended a militia training in his life, but 
who has been elevated to the station of foreign Minister in con- 
sequence of his civil attainments, appearing at court arrayed in 
this military coat, with a chapeau under his arm and a small 
sword dangling at his side." 



JAMES BUCHANAN. 



251 



The next important service of Mr. Buchanan was his report 
from the Judiciary Committee of an amendment to our natural- 
ization laws, which, by his exertion, was adopted, 

By the time Congress had again assembled General Jackson 
had been elected President by a sweeping majority, and Mr. 
Buchanan found himself , upon again taking his seat, in accord 
with the coming administration. Daring this session an 
amendment to the Constitution was offered, providing that no 
person who should have once been elected President of the 
United States shall be again eligible to that office. Mr. Buch- 
anan, in opposing this amendment, said : 

"I would incline to leave to the people of the United States, without incor- 
porating it in the Constitution, to decide whether a President should serve 
more than one term. The day may come when dangers may lower over us, 
and when we may have a President at the helm of state who possesses the 
confidence of the country and is better able to weather the storm than any 
other pilot. Shall we, then, under such circumstances, deprive the people of 
the United States of the power of obtaining his services for a second term ? 
Shall we pass a decree, as fixed as fate, to bind the American people and 
prevent them from ever re-electing such a man ? I am not afraid to trust 
them with this power." 

The first session of the next Congress was opened under the 
administration of President Jackson with a large increase 
of Democratic members in Congress. Mr. Buchanan was made 
Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, in place of Mr. Webster, 
who had been elected to the Senate. At this session a very im- 
portant matter was presented to the consideration of the com- 
mittee. It was the impeachment of Judge Peck, judge of the 
United States District Court for the District of Missouri. This 
impeachment passed the House of Representatives at the first 
session of the Twentieth Congress ; the trial was ready to take 
place on the assembling of the second session, and the Senate, 
in the capacity of a high court of impeachment, was ready for 
the case. 

Mr. Buchanan was one of five managers chosen by the House 
to conduct the prosecution. The following are the facts in the 
case, as presented in the articles of impeachment and evidence : 
Judge Peck in the United States District Court of Missouri de- 
cided against the claims of the widow and children of one 



252 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Antoine Souiard to certain land within the State of Missouri 
and the then Territory of Arkansas, and when the decision of 
Judge Peck was published, L. E. Lawless, of St. Louis, and of 
the counsel for prosecuting the claims before Judge Peck, wrote 
a short article to one of the St. Louis newspaper?, specifying the 
errors into which the judge had fallen in his decision. This 
Judge Peck considered a contempt of court, and Mr. Lawless, 
being summoned before the court, was not only deprived of his 
right to practice law, but was also committed to prison. These 




THE WHITE HOUSE. 

were the charges made by Mr. Lawless in his complaint to the 
House of Representatives, aud upon investigation the Judiciary 
Committee had unanimously reported articles of impeachment 
against Judge Peck. 

At the trial, which began on the 13th of December, 1830, 
Judge Peck was represented by Hon. William Wirt and Hon. 
Jonathan Meredith as counsel for the defense. Both of these 
gentlemen made very able speeches for their client. Mr. Buch- 
anan was the last of the counsel for the prosecution to speak, 



JAMES BUCHANAN. 



253 



and this masterly effort of his has gone down to history as un- 
surpassed in its review of constitutional and judicial law. To 
any one reading the magnificent peroration of Mr. Buchanan, 
it cannot fail of being a matter of surprise that the Senate re- 
fused to impeach Judge Peck. The vote stood for his impeach- 
ment twenty-one, and against it twenty- two, but the Senate, 
in apparent apology for their leniency, soon after passed an act 
which deterred judges in the future from so attempting to trifle 
with the liberties of citizens on such unjustifiable pretexts. 




THE EAST ROOM. 



This brings us to the close of Mr. Buchanan's Congressional 
career, he having voluntarily retired at the close of the session, 
after ten years' uninterrupted membership. 

Mr. Buchanan was appointed by President Jackson as Miois- 
ter to Russia soon after his retirement from Congress, at which 
court he represented the United States with great dignity and 
ability until 1833, when he returned home, and almost immedi- 
ately afterward was honored by a seat in the United States 
Senate. As an earnest friend o^ President Jackson, Mr. 



254 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Buchanan returned at an opportune moment to defend him 
from the assaults of his enemies. Almost his first services in 
the Senate were devoted to sustaining President Jackson's de- 
mand upon France for payment of the indemnity stipulated by 
the treaty of 1831. 

In the important debate upon " Executive Patronage," Mr. 
Buchanan, by the most memorable argument, showed that not 
only was it the intention of the framers of the Constitution 
that the President should have power of removal from office, 
but that it would be impossible to call an adjourned Senate 
from the remote homes of the members every time some in- 
competent or dishonest official at home or abroad required im- 
mediate removal. 

Mr. Buchanan also had occasion during this session to de- 
fend the Texan patriots who were struggling for the independ- 
ence of the lk Lone Star " Republic, from the charge of filibus- 
terism. 

About this time the great fire in New York had caused so 
much suffering that a bill for the relief of the sufferers was 
proposed, and Mr. Buchanan, in his natural generosity and 
humane sympathy, threw his entire influence in favor of the 
bill. The relief sought for was only to grant the merchant 
sufferers time to pay their indebtedness to the United States, 
amounting to about $8,500,000. 

At the opening of the second session of the Twenty-fourth 
Congress Mr. Buchanan was chosen chairman of the Committee 
on Foreign Relations. During this session Mr. Benton, of 
Missouri, again brought forward his resolution for expunging 
from the Journal of the Senate the vote of censure which had 
been recorded against President Jackson for his removal of the 
deposits from the United States Bank. His re-election was an 
indorsement of his act by the people, and Mr. Benton was now 
reinforced by Mr. Buchanan, who came to the rescue with his 
masterly eloquence. Such was the force of argument brought 
to bear by Mr. Buchanan that after the delivery of his speech 
the resolution was passed to expunge the resolution of censure. 

On the 4th of March, 1837, General Jackson's successor, Mr. 
Van Buren, was inaugurated President. His administration 



JAMES BUCHANAN. 



255 



began at a period of great financial suffering, and an extra 
session of Congress was called to take some measures of relief. 
At this session great excitement was aroused by the introduc- 
tion of the bill known as the u Sub-Treasury Act." This bill 
was passed twice by the Senate and as often defeated by the 
House. In favor of this bill Mr. Buchanan made a strong 
argument, which should have won for the bill a better fate. 

Mr. Buchanan was again promptly in his seat at the opening 
of the first regular session of the Twenty-fifth Congress. It was 
during this session, in defending our relations with Mexico, 
that he uttered that immortal sentiment: "Millions to defend 
our rights, but not a cent for tribute." 

In this session, Mr. Buchanan stood up nobly for the Western 
settlers on the question of the pre-emption of lands, and made 
one of his happiest efforts in behalf of wise legislation on the 
subject. 

To Mr. Buchanan the greatest praise is due for the benefits 
derived to the country by the passage of the Independent Treas- 
ury bill, which he so ably urged upon the attention of the 
Senate. 

The Maine boundary question was the most prominent sub- 
ject engrossing the attention of the second session of the 
Twenty-fifth Congress at its opening, but the question of inter- 
ference of Federal officers in elections was the one upon which 
Mr. Buchanan made his greatest effort of the session. 

In the Twenty-sixth Congress Mr. Buchanan distinguished 
himself, as usual, by his many able speeches. "When the next 
session of this Congress opened, the political whirlwind had 
passed and General Harrison had been overwhelmingly elected, 
and after a somewhat unimportant session, Congress came to a 
close on the day General Harrison was inaugurated President. 
Before Congress met at the extra session called on the 31st day 
of May, President Harrison had been removed by death, and 
John Tyler became the Executive. 

The very first bill introduced at the extra session by the dom- 
inant party was a bill to repeal the Independent Treasury Act in 
the effort to again establish a national bank under the name of 
a " Fiscal Bank," as proposed by Mr. Clay. Mr. Buchanan was 



250 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



selected by the Democracy to defeat, if possible, this proposed 
legislation, and his masterly effort against the Fiscal Bank bill 
was made on the 7th of July, 1841, in a speech of great length. 
President Tyler's veto of both the Fiscal Bank bill and the Fis- 
cal Corporation bill won for Mr. Buchanan the victory for which 
he made so gallant an effort. 

When the first regular session of the Twenty-seventh Con- 
gress met, Mr. Clay was burning for revenge against the Pres- 
ident for vetoing his pet schemes, and he began his work by 
offering resolutions to restrict the veto power. Here, again, 
he found Mr. Buchanan his adversary, ready to defend the wise 
constitutional provision of the veto power. After Mr. Clay had 
urged the passage of his resolutions, he was followed by Mr. 
Buchanan in an able speech, which met and refuted every ar- 
gument brought forward against the veto power, and that the 
President still exercises that necessary safeguard is evidence 
that Mr. Buchanan triumphed. 

The most important question which arose for consideration 
at the opening of the Twenty-Eighth Congress, was that of a 
territorial government for Oregon, and the admission of Texas 
into the Union, both of which Mr. Buchanan favored. The 
annexation of Texas was not ratified at that session, but at the 
next meeting of Congress it again came up to be voted for on 
a joint resolution which was passed, and at last Texas became 
a State in the Union. Mr. Buchanan was the only member of 
the Committee on Foreign Relations who favored the admis- 
sion, and this act, together with his vote for annexation, was 
the last which crowned his Senatorial career. 

James K. Polk having been elected President in 1844, Mr. 
Buchanan was selected by him for his Cabinet, to fill the im- 
portant position of Secretary of State. In this position the first 
international matter engaging Mr. Buchanan's attention was 
that of the settlement of our Oregon boundary. Mr. Buchanan 
believed our title clear to the line of 54° 40', but during the 
negotiations under the former administration Mr. Tyler had 
proposed a settlement on the line of 49° north latitude, and Mr. 
Buchanan was placed in the delicate position of seeking his 
own line for the settlement, while not withdrawing the propo- 



JAMES BUCHANAN. 



257 



sition made by the late Executive. But in a very able state 
paper he insisted upon England's acceptance of the proposition 
of Mr. Tyler, and his firmness in the matter resulted in En- 
gland's acceptance of the forty -ninth parallel of north latitude, 
from the Eocky Mountains to the Pacific coast, as the boundary 
line. 

The most important subject, however, for Mr. Buchanan's 
consideration as Secretary of State, was the negotiations con- 
nected with the Mexican war, which negotiations were con- 
stantly kept up, and at last; after our flag waved over the city 
of Mexico, they terminated in peace. In his letter to Hon. 
John Slidell, while still Minister to Mexico, Mr. Buchanan firmly 
urged upon him the principles of the Monroe doctrine, and 
especially that we would not allow European sovereigns to 
apply the worn-out dogma of the balance of power to the free 
States on this continent, or suffer them to establish new colonies 
of their own intermingled with our free republics. 

When Mr. Buchanan's secretaryship terminated, our wars and 
rumors of wars had ceased, and our international affairs were 
in the most peaceful and prosperous condition, audit cannot be 
denied that to his great statesmanship was this condition of our 
affairs greatly due, and it is probable that in the acquisition of 
California, with all her grand area and treasures of soil, to Mr. 
Buchanan is due the greatest individual credit. 

After his retirement in 1849, at the election of General Tay- 
lor, Mr. Buchanan gladly returned to the sweet rest and seclu- 
sion of private life for which he had long sighed. It is probable 
that his honors were as truly thrust upon him unsought as those 
of any statesman in the country, and while no man ever labored 
more earnestly for the public good in official position, he 
was actuated more by a desire to serve than to be served, anel 
did his work for the country, not for himself. 

But even in retirement his voice served mankind, and in 
every word and line he sought to benefit his country. The ben- 
efit of his opinions and counsel he gave in frequent letters on 
public topics. 

Upon the election of President Pierce, Mr. Buchanan was 
$gain drawn from his retirement and received the appointment 



258 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



of Minister to England, which important position he filled with 
the highest honor to his country and with the most marked 
ability. It was during this mission that Mr. Buchanan met 
Mr. Mason and Mr. Soule, our Ministers to France and Spain, 
at Ostend, in reference to the purchase of Cuba. The meeting, 
however, resulted in no definite action. 

In 1856 Mr. Buchanan was nominated by the National Dem- 
ocratic Convention as their candidate for the Presidency. In 
this canvass the political conflict was a very hot and bitter 
one, in which, for the first time in the history of the country, 
a direct sectional issue was at stake. The pro-slavery interests 
were to a man with Mr. Buchanan, and the anti- slavery senti- 
ments of the country were with Mr. Fremont, the opposing 
candidate. What was called the " Irrepressible Conflict" was 
then looming up like a great shadow in the land. But for the 
time being Mr. Buchanan's party triumphed, and he was 
elected President, having received 174 electoral votes, while 
Mr. Fremont received 114. 

Mr. Buchanan's administration, which should have been the 
reward of his long, faithful and able services to the country, 
proved to him a source of the greatest anxiety and trouble. 
The country had entered upon stormy times, and the conflict on 
the slavery question and the extension of the institution was 
growing fiercer day by day, bitter hatred was growing deeeper, 
and Mr. Buchanan began soon to realize that his friends and 
party expected him to join hands with them in the most ex- 
treme measures. As far as he could, consistently, he gave his 
' support to the interests of slavery, and took sides with that in- 
stitution in the Kansas difficulties. 

This was the con dii ion of public excitement and sectional 
animosity when Abraham Lincoln was nominated as a candi- 
date for the Presidency by the Republican Convention at Chi- 
cago, on the 16th day of June, 1860. Then the menace of war 
was flung to the breeze, and the pro-slavery party declared 
that if Mr. Lincoln was elected they would secede from the 
Union. In anticipation of his probable election, extensive 
preparations began to be made to carry this threat into execu- 
tion, and the day it was known that he was elected, the move- 



JAMES BUCHANAN. 



259 



ment actually began, and preparations for war were com- 
menced in the South. In the face of this attitude of the South, 
Mr. Buchanan remained silent and lifted no warning voice and 
sounded no protest. When South Carolina seceded, in Decem- 
ber, 1860, nearly three months before Mr. Buchanan's Presi- 
dential term expired, he did nothing but look on in silent ac- 
quiescence or hopeless despair. One after another our forts and 
navy yards and arsenals were taken possession of by the lead- 
ers of the secession movement, and still Mr. Buchanan sat still, 
and only asserted that he had no constitutional power to pre- 
vent the overt acts of rebellion which were being committed. 

It will never be known how many hundreds of thousands of 
lives and millions of treasure might have been saved had Pres- 
ident Buchanan but possessed firmness and true patriotism 
enough to have made every effort in his power to hold our 
forts and ships and arsenals, and to have delayed the move- 
ments of the men who were bent upon breaking up the Union. 
It is not probable that anything he could have done would 
have prevented the war; that was inevitable, but he could 
have prevented the secessionists from securing the war ma- 
terial of the Government . 

It cannot be claimed that President Buchanan had had no 
plans of vigorous action presented to him, for General Scott 
had urged upon him the necessity of strengthening and rein- 
forcing our forts and arsenals, and sending our war vessels to 
the harbors of the disaffected States. To all these plans Mr. 
Buchanan refused his consent, and while helpless imbecility 
marked his policy, the seceded States were actively forming 
their government, and fortifying positions, and strengthening 
the forts they had taken from the Government, and were ready 
for the conflict, and apparently waiting only through consider- 
ation for Mr. Buchanan. 

The eventful 4th of March, 1861, at last came, and with Mr. 
Lincoln's inauguration the long desired retirement of Mr. Buch- 
anan took place, and in his home at Wheatland he remained 
in silence and, probably, remorse, while the clash of armies 
and thunder of war resounded throughout our land, until his 
death took place, in 1868. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



Since General Yv T ashington occupied the chief executive chair 
of the nation there has been no President who has occupied so 
prominent a position before the country or the world, or who 
has been a subject of such universal interest, as Mr. Lincoln. 

Abraham Lincoln was born in the State of Kentucky, on the 
12th of February, 1809, in Hardin County, in that portion which 
was afterward formed into Larue County. Both his father and 
his grandfather were born in Rockingham County, Virginia. 
His father's name was Thomas and his grandfather's Abraham. 

His grandfather Abraham moved to Kentucky with his 
family, consisting of a wife and five children, three sons and 
two daughters, and settled in the wilderness. Very little is 
known of his pioneer life in his new home, beyond the fact 
that w hile at work one day in the field he was shot and killed 
by an Indian who had stealthily approached through the 
forest. This act of inhuman savagery left a widow and five 
helpless little children to struggle for subsistence. 

The names of the sons were Mordecai, J osiah and Thomas, 
and the names of the daughters were Mary and Nancy. Both of 
these daughters married and settled down in Kentucky, Mary 
having become the life partner of Ealph Grume, while Nancy 
became Mrs. William Brumfield. Thomas, by the untimely death 
of his father, was left to grow up without education as a com- 
mon farm hand. This son was the father of Abraham Lincoln. 
At full manhood he married Nancy Hanks, who was the mother 
of Abraham, There was also by this union a sister older and a 
brother younger than Abraham. The sister grew up and mar- 
ried, but the brother died in infancy. 

Thomas Lincoln began his married life in the poor and rude 
log cabin in which Abraham was born, and where the family 



£62 



LIVES OS 1 OUR PRESIDENTS. 



remained in poverty and deprivation for about ten years, dur- 
ing which time Abraham received a few months of primary 
education in the old-fashioned log school-house of that day. 
When Abraham was about eight years of age, his father 
resolved to remove from Kentucky, on account of his dislike of 
slavery and the uncertain tenor of land titles in the State. It 
may be a matter of interest to state that he sold his little farm 




THE EARLY HOME OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



for ten barrels of whisky and twenty dollars in cash. This 
stock of liquor, together with his household furniture, he 
loaded on a little flat-boat which he had built and launched, 
and floating out of the creek dignified by the name of Eolling 
Fork, he started down the river, destined for Indiana. It is 
probable this whisky would have bought all the land he 
wanted had he not met with the loss of nearly all of it by the 
overturning of his boat. This left him poorer than ever ; but 
settling in Spencer County, Indiana, on a piece of unbroken 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 



263 



forest land which he purchased, he and the boy Abraham 
began the great labor of clearing the land, and from that day 
until he was over twenty-one years old, Abraham almost daily 
swung the ax, until he became more expert in its use than any 
man who ever filled the executive chair of the United States. 
Scarcely had little Abe begun to chop wood in his new home, 
before he poked his father's rifle through a crack of the log 
cabin one day, and shot a wild turkey out of a flock which had 
invaded the yard. 

When Abraham was about ten years of age, the family sus- 
tained a great loss in the death of his mother, a sweet, delicate, 
Christian woman, who in her best health was too frail for the 
rough, hard life of the pioneer ; and when the little motherless 
boy sat by the grave, with great tears rolling from his face, he 
realized that the angel of his early life was gone from him for- 
ever in this world. 

During their residence in Kentucky there was an itinerant 
Baptist preacher named Elkins, who had occasionally preached 
in their neighborhood, and had shared the rude hospitalities 
of the Lincoln cabin. To this servant of the Lord the 
thoughts of the family naturally turned in their bereavement, 
and Abraham wrote a letter asking him to come at his first 
opportunity and preach a funeral sermon in memory of his 
mother. Parson Elkins kindly appointed a day upon which he 
would come and preach the sermon, and notice of the occasion 
and day was sent from house to house. True to his word, on 
the appointed day Parson Elkins arrived after a journey on 
horseback through the wilderness of nearly a hundred miles. 
At the Lincoln cabin he found two hundred persons assembled, 
and, uncouth backwoods preacher as he was, he delivered a 
most tender, touching and eloquent tribute to the memory of 
the noble Christian woman whose life had gone out among the 
scenes of pioneer hardship, and passed away to that sweet rest 
beyond world and planet and star. 

During these early years of Abraham he was securing an 
occasional month or so of schooling, to which he added by read- 
ing such few books as could be secured in that frontier locality. 
Among these books were the Bible s JEsop's Fables, Bunyan's 



264 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Pilgrim's Progress, the Life of Washington, and similar books. 
Among his teachers were Andrew Crawford, Azel W. Dorsey, 
and a Mr. Sweeny. 

In the year 1819 Abraham's father married Mrs. Sally Johns- 
ton, at Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and with her three children 
she went with him to his Indiana home, where she became a 
devoted step-mother to Abraham and his sister. 

At the age of eighteen young Lincoln is said to have built a 
little flat-boat, on which he made his first trip down the river 
with the produce of his father's farm ; but of this voyage there 
is no authentic account, beyond that of an incident related by 
Mr. Lincoln himself in after years. While upon his boat at one 
of the landings one day, two men came hastily to the river de- 
siring to be rowed out to a passing steamer, and, select- 
ing Abraham from among the other boatmen for the 
service, they each gave him a half dollar when he had safely 
got them on board the boat. The poor boy had never made 
money so fast in his life, and this event he cherished in his mind 
for many after years. 

A year later he was employed by a neighbor to run a flat- 
boat to New Orleans, in company with another hand. This 
boat was what was termed on the Western rivers a trading 
boat, which had miscellaneous merchandise on board for the 
purpose of bartering with farmers and planters along the shore. 
This class of boats, by the time they reached New Orleans, had 
generally entirely exchanged their merchandise for farm 
produce, which readily sold for cash at the great city of the 
South. At this time Mr. Lincoln had grown to the extraor- 
dinary height of six feet four inches, and his great strength 
served him a good purpose on one occasion. Seven negroes 
made an attack upon the boat one night for the purpose of 
killing and robbing the two men in charge, but Abraham with 
his companion drove them off, and to prevent a renewed attack 
dropped their boat further down the stream. 

When Abraham had reached his twenty-first birthday the 
family resolved to move from Indiana in search of a better 
location, and the entire family, including also the families of 
the two daughters^ set out on the 1st of March, 1S80, for 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



265 



Illinois. Here they settled in Macon County, on the Sangamon 
River, and during the first season built a cabin, cleared land 
and raised a crop of corn. 

After helping his father thus far in his new home, young 
Lincoln decided to bid adieu to the parental roof and seek his 
fortune in the outside world. For some months he hired as 
a farm hand, and when winter arrived he and his step- 
brother and John Hanks hired themselves to a man named 
OfTutt, to take a flat boat from Beardstown, Illinois, to New 
Orleans, as soon as the melting snow in the spring should raise 
the stream. Lincoln and the other hands were to join Offutt 
at Springfield, to which place they were compelled to go in a 
canoe down the Sangamon Eiver. At Springfield they found 
OfTutt, but he had failed in getting a boat, and made a bargain 
with them at $12 per month each to hew out timber and build 
a boat. The boat finally being completed, was launched on the 
Sangamon River, and Lincoln, with several others, went with the 
boat to New Orleans. On this trip the acquaintance between 
Offutt and Lincoln grew into a friendship, which resulted in 
young Lincoln being hired to clerk for Offutt in a store and 
mill in New Salem, in Sangamon County. Here Lincoln not 
only became a great favorite with the customers of the store 
and mill, but by his uprightness of character and conscientious- 
ness acquired the sobriquet of ''Honest Abe," which clung to 
him through life. On several occasions he walked miles to 
rectify some mistake in his favor. An insolent fellow came into 
the store one day, and began to talk insultingly in the presence 
of ladies. Lincoln reminded him of the presence of the ladies, 
but this only made the ruffian more abusive. When the ladies 
left the fellow told Lincoln he had come there to thrash him, 
but the way Abe Lincoln slung him around that store soon set- 
tled the question of who was thrashed. Lincoln concluded by 
rubbing smart weed in his eyes until the fellow bellowed like 
a calf. Then Lincoln washed his face for him and talked kindly 
to him, and won his future friendship. 

Lincoln had served as clerk in the store but one year when 
Off utt's speculations in other parts of the county resulted in his 
failure and the closing of the New Salem establishment. 



266 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



About this time the Black Hawk "War broke out, in 1832, and 
young Lincoln, in great enthusiasm, joined a volunteer com- 
pany, in which he was elected captain. In this campaign he 
served three months, and in regular camp and on the march 
passed through the hardships of an ordinary soldier. 

On his return from this short campaign he was induced by 
his neighbors to become a candidate for the Legislature, but for 
the only time in his life he was defeated. 

This left him without occupation, and while looking about 
him for something to do, he was called upon to invoice a stock 
of goods which his friend, Mr. W. G. Greene, had just bought 
on a speculation. Lincoln then conceived the ?dea of buying 
out the stock in connection with a man named Berry. The 
bargain was made, and Lincoln and Berry gave their notes for 
the stock, but by the bad management of Berry they only got 
deeper in debt, and to use Mr. Lincoln's expression, " the store 
winked out," and six years afterward "Honest Abe" paid Mr. 
Greene, who had moved to Tennessee, the last cent due on the 
notes of Lincoln and Berry. 

Soon after the failure of the store President Jackson appointed 
Mr. Lincoln postmaster of New Salem. This position pleased 
Mr. Lincoln, for it enabled him to read a great many news- 
papers. Several years after he had ceased to be postmaster, 
and when he was practicing law, an agent of the Post-Office 
Department called to collect a balance which for all those years 
had been due. Mr. Lincoln immediately went to a trunk and 
pulled out a package containing the identical money, some 
seventeen dollars, which was on hand when he gave up the 
office, or rather when it was discontinued. 

His next occupation was that of deputy surveyor of San- 
gamon County, having been employed for this w^ork by the 
county surveyor, who gave Mr. Lincoln a certain part of the 
county to survey. Of course Lincoln knew nothing of survey- 
ing, but, as he had done in other emergencies, he gained the 
desired knowledge by quickly studying some standard books 
on the subject. 

In 1834 Mr. Lincoln again became a candidate for the Legis- 
lature, and this time was elected by a very large majority. In 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



267 



the canvass he frequently met Major John T. Stuart, whose 
acquaintance he had made in the Black Hawk War, and this 
gentleman, taking a deep interest in young Lincoln, advised 
him to study law, and realizing the poverty of the young legis- 
lator, offered to loan him all the law books he needed. This 
offer Lincoln accepted after his election, and going to Spring- 
field, he returned with a load of books to New Salem and began 
his studies. This he kept up until he was ouv of money ; then 
he began surveying to make more, and so he alternately worked 
and pursued his studies. 

At that time the seat of government in Illinois was at Van- 
dalia, and to take his seat at the opening of the Legislature Mr. 
Lincoln walked a hundred miles. Here his native good sense 
served him a valuable purpose. Being in an entirely new and 
novel position, he remained quiet and learned all he could. 

In 1836 he was again elected to the Legislature. In this 
canvass he made the memorable speech which secured his repu- 
tation as one of the ablest orators in the State. 

In this session of the Legislature Mr. Lincoln met Stephen A. 
Douglas, and it was here that those two young men took those 
political positions which gave their results in after years. One 
of the most noted acts of Mr. Lincoln s early life was his pro- 
test, entered on the Illinois House Journal, in connection with 
Dan Stone, in reference to some liberal resolutions on the sub- 
fect of slavery in the United States. This protest asserted their 
belief that while Congress had no power under the Constitution 
to interfere with the institution of slavery in the different 
States, they believed the institution was founded on both 
injustice and bad policy. This protest placed his principles on 
the slavery question on record, and in his after life he ne^er 
changed or receded from the position, save in the exigencies of 
war to interfere with the institution by his emancipation proc- 
lamation. 

After the session adjourned Mr. Lincoln again walked the 
long, weary hundred miles from the State capital home. For a 
considerable distance he kept up with a number of his more 
fortunate brother legislators, who were on horseback, and when 
upon one occasion Mr. Lincoln complained of being cold, which 



268 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



was not to be wondered at from his thin clothing, one of the 
company remarked that it was no wonder he was cold, ' ' there 
was so mucn of him on the ground." 

In 1836 Mr. Lincoln was admitted to the bar, and after a 
year's practice he removed to Springfield, to which place, 
through his influence, with others, the capital had been trans- 
ferred. It is not probable, however, that this alone would have 
induced him to have given up his many true friends and help- 
ers at New Salem, had it not been that his old friend, Major 
Stuart, had offered him a partnership in the practice of law. 
This partnership evidently did not continue long, for Mr. Lin- 
coln was re-elected to the Legislature in 1838 and 1840, while 
Major Stuart was elected to Congress. 

On the assembling of the Legislature Mr. Lincoln was brought 
forward by the Whigs as their candidate for Speaker, but the 
Democrats were in the majority, and finally elected their can- 
didate by a majority of only one vote. 

Mr, Lincoln's reputation for relating anecdotes began to 
attract attention about this time, in his ready application of a 
comical story to subjects or persons under discussion. It is 
evident to those familiar with the Western custom of lawyers, 
to ride the circuit with the judge in attending the different 
courts in a district, that Mr. Lincoln acquired this facility for 
story -telling at the country taverns where the lawyers and 
citizens of each county-seat gathered on these circuits. 

In 1840, Mr. Lincoln formed a new law partnership with Judge 
Logan, of Springfield, and soon after, voluntarily retiring from 
the Legislature, he decided to devote himself more assiduously 
than ever to his profession, but the exciting political campaign 
of 1840 created such a demand for his services as a stump 
speaker that he was again compelled to neglect the law. 

In 1842, an important event transpired in his life, which was 
that of his marriage to Miss Mary Todd, a daughter of Hon. 
Robert G. Todd, of Lexington, Kentucky, and for a time the 
newly married pair boarded at the Globe Hotel, in Springfield, 
at a cost of four dollars per week, which sum, small as it may 
now appear, was often quite a formidable amount for Mr. 
Lincoln to pay. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



269 



In 1846, Mr. Lincoln was elected to Congress from the Central 
District of Illinois, and took his seat at the opening of the ses- 
sion, in December, 1847, as the only Whig member from Illi- 
nois. Here he found one of the ablest legislative bodies ever 
assembled in the halls of Congress, and the session of that year 
was one of great excitement, owing to the war with Mexico and 
other important questions then being agitated. 

One of Mr. Lincoln's first votes was given in favor of a resolu- 
tion asserting the right of Congress to improve rivers and 
harbors, when necessary for the movements, convenience and 
safety of our Army and Navy. This resolution was tabled in 
opposition to Mr. Lincoln's vofce. 

The next day Mr. Giddings presented a memorial from cer- 
tain citizens of the District of Columbia, asking Congress to 
repeal all laws upholding the slave trade in the District. Mr. 
Lincoln voted against a motion to lay this paper on the table. 

Mr. Lincoln on the same day offered a long and able preamble 
and resolution in reference to the Mexican War, in the nature of 
an inquiry into the acts upon both sides. Mr. Lincoln, like 
most of the Whigs, believed that the cause of the war had been 
our own military occupation of Mexican territory beyond the 
borders of Texas. These resolutions, although acknowledged 
to be both able and appropriate, were laid over. Mr. Lincoln 
did not believe that the war was begun by the act of Mexico, 
and he objected to any false statements as to the origin of the 
difficulty. 

On the ~8th of December a petition was received from citi- 
zens of Indiana, asking for the abolition of slavery in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, and, as usual with such documents, the 
motion was at once made to lay it on the table and carried, Mr. 
Lincoln voting against the motion. On the 30th of December 
and 17th of January other memorials and resolutions in refer- 
ence to slavery in the District of Columbia were brought up, 
and in each instance Mr. Lincoln voted against tabling them. 

On the 17th of February Mr. Lincoln voted for the bill for 
supplies of men and money for the Mexican War. 

On the 19th of June Mr. Lincoln took a conspicuous position 
in favor of a protective tariff. Upon the same day Mr. Stewart, 



270 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



of Pennsylvania, offered the following resolution, for which 
Mr. Lincoln voted : 

"Resolved, That the Committee of Ways and Means be instructed to 
inquire into the expediency of reporting a bill increasing the duties on 
foreign luxuries of all kinds, and on such foreign manufactures as are now 
coming into ruinous competition with American labor." 

On the 28th of July commenced the famous speeches of Mr. 
Webster and Mr. Corwin, on the bill to establish territorial 
governments for Oregon, California and New Mexico. In this 
bill was a provision prohibiting the territorial legislatures of 
California and New Mexico from passing laws in favor of or 
against slavery, but also providing that all the laws of the terri- 
torial legislatures shall be subject to the sanction of Congress. 
Mr. Lincoln, although not speaking upon the bill, took sides 
with Webster and Corwin, and voted to lay the territorial bills 
upon the table when they came up for consideration. 

On the 21st of December Mr. Gott offered a resolution in the 
House, asking that the Committee for the District of Columbia 
be instructed to report a bill as soon as practicable, prohibiting 
the slave trade in said District. This resolution was so strong 
that Mr. Lincoln voted to lay it on the table, and when, on the 
16th of January, it was again before the House, on a motion to 
reconsider, Mr. Lincoln offered as a substitute a resolution that 
the Committee for the District of Columbia be instructed to 
report a bill to the effect that no person at that time in the Dis- 
trict and no person thereafter born within the District should 
be held to slavery within or without the District : provided, 
however, that those holding slaves in the slave States might 
bring them in and take them out again when visiting the Dis- 
trict on public business. The bill also contained a provision for 
the emancipation of any slaves legally held in the District at 
the will of the owners, who could claim their full value at the 
hands of the Government. 

Thus were the sentiments of Mr. Lincoln on the slavery ques- 
tion set forth during that session. He believed in its legal right 
under the Constitution, but always asserted that it was morally 
wrong, and he always voted against its extension. After hav- 
ing opposed the Mexican War, he also voted against the annex- 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



271 



ation of Texas, and gave his entire support to the Wilmot pro- 
viso. 

At the end of the session of 1849 he retired from Congress, and 
returned home to resume his practice of law in Springfield, and 
enjoy the pleasures of domestic life with his young and in- 
creasing family. Here he found it necessary to build up anew 
his law practice, which had slipped away from him during his 
political occupation, and until 1854 he so closely applied himself 
to business at home that he almost felt himself cut loose from 
politics, until the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused 
him to a new interest in the public welfare. At this time Mr. 
Lincoln, with prophetic vision, could see that an irrepressible 
conflict on the question of slavery was arising in the land. He 
saw that by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, in revenge 
for the admission of California as a free State, the pro-slavery 
men intended to secure Kansas and Nebraska, if possible, as 
slave States. 

This Kansas-Nebraska bill had been fathered by Stephen A. 
Douglas, in accordance with his popular sovereignty views. 
From this action of Judge Douglas arose the great contest be- 
tween him and Mr. Lincoln in the Illinois campaign of 1854. 
Mr. Douglas, on his return home, found himself face to face 
with an enraged constituency, who were at first not even in- 
clined to allow him any opportunity for explanation or defense 
of his action, but it being understood that Mr. Lincoln intended 
to handle him without gloves, they came to Springfield in 
immense crowds during the holding of the State fair, and on 
the 4th of October the great debate came off. This was but the 
beginning of the campaign between these two intellectual giants, 
but Mr. Lincoln so scathed Judge Douglas that the latter kept 
out of his way for the remainder of the campaign. But Mr. 
Lincoln continued through the canvass with unabated zeal, 
and to him more than to any other man is due the great victory 
which gave the State to the Republicans that fall. 

The summer of 1858 in Illinois is memorable for the Senato- 
rial contest between Mr. Douglas and Mr. Lincoln, the latter 
having been re-elected by the Republican State Convention in 
June, 1858, as their candidate for United States Senator. 



212 



LIVES OT 1 OUR PRESIDENTS* 



There was considerable correspondence between Mr. Douglas 
and Mr, Lincoln in reference to a proposition and its acceptance 
for joint discussion. In these debates Mr. Lincoln made a 
magnificent record for himself of great ability as a speaker. 
In the language of an Illinois journal, when he entered deeply 
into his subject " there was a grandeur in his thoughts, a com- 
prehensiveness in his arguments and a binding force in his con- 
clusions, which were perfectly irresistible. The vast throng 
were silent as death ; every eye was fixed upon the speaker, and 
all gave him serious attention. He was the tall man eloquent ; 
his countenance glowed with animation, and his eye glistened 
with an intelligence that made it lustrous. He was no longer 
awkward and ungainly, but graceful, bold, commanding." 

In one of his speeches he delivered the following memorable 
argument : 

" My distinguished friend says it is an insult to the emigrants to Kansas 
and Nebraska to suppose they are not able to govern themselves. We must 
not slur over an argument of this kind because it happens to tickle the ear. 
It must be met and answered. I admit that the emigrant to Kansas and 
Nebraska is competent to govern himself, but I deny his right to govern any 
other per son without that person's consent." 

In this contest Mr. Lincoln received a majority on the popu- 
lar vote over Mr. Douglas of four thousand and eighty-five, but 
the apportionment of the Legislative districts gave a majority of 
Democrats both in the State Senate and House of Representa- 
tives, and on the ballot in the Legislature Mr. Douglas was re- 
elected to his seat in the United States Senate. But if Mr. 
Lincoln lost the Senatorship, he destroyed Mr. Douglas' chances 
of becoming the Southern candidate for the Presidency ; and 
looking further, it must be admitted that the campaign and Mr. 
Lincoln's speeches secured for him the Presidency in 1860. The 
principles of the Republican party were so clearly laid down in 
Mr. Lincoln's speeches as published, in contrast to the Demo- 
cratic principles enunciated by Mr. Douglas, that they were 
universally used as campaign documents in the Presidential 
contest which so soon followed. 

This campaign gave Mr. Lincoln a national reputation, besides 
making him the most popular man in Illinois. He was present 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



278 



at the Illinois State Republican Convention at Decatur, on the 
10th of May, 1859, as a visitor, and had a compliment paid to 
him which raised the enthusiasm of the audience to the highest 
pitch. Soon after Mr. Lincoln's arrival, Governor Oglesby arose 
and announced that an old citizen of Macon County desired to 
make a contribution to the convention. This announcement 
was followed by the arrival of two fence rails, decorated with 
flags and wreaths and bearing this inscription : 

"Abraham Lincoln, the rail candidate for the Presidency in 1860. Two 
rails from a lot of 3,000 made in 1830 by Thomas Hanks and Abe Lincoln, 
whose father was the first pioneer of Macon County.' 1 

Thus while Mr. Lincoln's popularity was increasing at home, 
it soon became evident to him that the people of other localities 
were anxious to see him and hear him speak. The people of 
Kansas looked to him as their deliverer, by reason of the grand 
exposure he gave of the plot to force slavery upon the Terri- 
tory, and when he visited that State he was received with the 
wildest enthusiasm. 

On his return from Kansas he passed through Ohio and 
made speeches at Columbus and Cincinnati. At both these 
cities Mr. Douglas had been before him, enunciating his Demo- 
cratic doctrines, entwined with squatter sovereignty and other 
pro-slavery principles, and in replying, as it were, to these 
speeches, Mr. Lincoln was fighting over his old battles with the 
4 4 Little Giant." 

Scarcely had Mr. Lincoln delivered his two Ohio speeches 
before he was invited to visit New York and address the citi- 
zens. Upon the occasion Cooper Institute was crowded to 
overflowing, and among the audience were the most distin- 
guished men of the city. Mr. Lincoln's speech had been spe- 
cially and carefully prepared for the occasion, and was one of 
the ablest he had ever delivered, and his audience gave their 
heartiest approval of his masterly effort. 

His fame had now gone before him everywhere, and he 
received pressing invitations from numerous localities to 
address the people. In his visit to Connecticut he spoke in the 
principal cities, and it is probable that his influence carried the 
State by a Eepublican majority that year. 



274 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Of one of his speeches, delivered in Norwich, Conn., the 
Rev. Mr. Gulliver said, in conversation with Mr. Lincoln : " I 
learned more of the art of public speaking last evening than I 
could from a whole course of lectures on rhetoric." 

This trip East had proven to Mr. Lincoln that there was 
something in his speeches and the manner of his delivery that 
took a firm hold upon his hearers, and his confidence in him- 
self was raised in place of a natural distrust of his abili- 
ties, which had always previously clung to him. He learned 
that the judgment of "Western audiences is as correct in its 




ME. LINCOLN^ RESIDENCE AT SPRINGFIELD. 



estimate of public men as that of any other portion of the 
country. 

During his visit to New York he one day strolled into the 
Five Points Mission Sunday School, and, doubtless, being mis- 
taken for a minister, was called upon to address the scholars. 
This he did in such a sweet, attractive way that all were fasci- 
nated with the stranger, and when he intended to stop . they 
begged him to continue, and when, at last, he was on the point 
of leaving, the superintendent asked his name ; he simply re- 
plied, " Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois." 

We are now brought down to the period when the irrepressi- 
ble conflict was rapidly approaching. The ultra portion of the 
pro-slavery men in the South were at last resolved, if possible, 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



275 



to break up the Union. They had seen the power and prestige 
of slavery slipping away. They had just lost California, Kan- 
sas, and practically Nebraska, which they had fondly hoped to 
see admitted as slave Sta,tes, and at last they realized that the 
preponderating population and wealth of the free States did 
not intend to submit to the extension of slavery into the terri- 
tories. They realized that the day had passed when pro- 
slavery men could dominate in the country. They realized 
that the people of the Northern States were beginning to con- 
sider slavery as an institution with no moral rights, and that it 
should have only the legal rights constitutionally guaranteed to 
it. Such was the condition of affairs that at last had resolved 
the Secessionists in principle to disrupt the Union and form an 
independent slave autocracy, in which slavery should be the 
fundamental principle of the government. The leaders of the 
slavery party would very complacently have remained in the 
Union could they have established slavery in California, Kan- 
sas, Nebraska and other territories, but failing in this they 
shrewdly saw that the rapid increase of free States and their 
growth in population and wealth, would soon be able to confine 
slavery to its present existing limits, if not even to gradually 
gather the border slave States into the fold of universal free- 
dom. 

This was the condition of affairs when indications pointed 
strongly to the election of a Republican President, and not only 
in anticipation of this, but in actual desire for the accomplish- 
ment of the event, the leaders of the Secession movement began 
at once quietly to secure possession of our forts and arsenals in 
the South, by the appointment of officers in charge who were of 
known Secession sentiments, and who at the proper time would 
turn them over to the Southern government. But even with 
the threats of secession and the apparent intention to seize the 
military and naval strongholds, the general public could not be 
brought to a realization of the danger of a disruption of the 
government. 

In the spring of 1860, on the 26d of April, the Democratic 
National Convention met at Charleston. As was anticipated, 
the Northern and the Southern wings of the Democratic party 



276 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



could not agree. The Northern Democrats wanted Douglas, and 
declared that he was the only man who could carry the party 
through to victory. But such a victory the Southern Demo- 
crats did not want. They wanted no candidate who was not 
absolutely and without reserve a pro-slavery man. On that 
they were candid in asserting that they wanted a square fight 
between slavery and anti-slavery, without the compromise of a 
single right. 

The result was a split, and the Southern delegation withdrew, 
leaving the regular convention in session, which, after balloting 
fifty-seven times without making a selection, adjourned to meet 
in Baltimore on the 18th of June, at which time they nominated 
Stephen A. Douglas as their candidate, while the Southern wing 
met and nominated John C. Breckinridge. There was still 
another party, made up mostly of old line Whigs, who met, and, 
declaring their principles to be ' ; the Constitution, the Union 
and the Enforcement of the Laws," they nominated John Bell, 
of Tennessee, for President, and Edward Everett, of Massachu- 
setts, for Vice-President. 

On the 16th of June, 1860, the National Republican Conven- 
tion met in Chicago, under circumstances of the greatest politi- 
cal interest and enthusiasm. The crowd of delegates and 
visitors was estimated at twenty-five thousand. The conven- 
tion met in a great building called the Wigwam, constructed for 
the purpose, and never before had there been such an immense 
attendance upon a similar occasion. When the balloting 
began there were found to be eleven candidates brought forward 
by the different delegations, but it was soon found that the con- 
test was to be between William H. Seward and Mr. Lincoln. In 
the three ballo tings the results were as follows : On the first 
ballot, Mr. Seward received one hundred and seventy -three and 
a half votes, and Mr. Lincoln one hundred and two. Upon the 
second ballot, Mr. Seward received one hundred and eighty-four 
and a half votes, and Mr. Lincoln one hundred and eighty-one. 
On the third ballot, which also proved to be the last, Mr Lincoln 
received two hundred and thirty -one and a half votes, which 
required but one and a half vote to secure his nomination. 
Upon this announcement the four votes of Ohio were trans- 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



277 



ferred to Mr. Lincoln, and his nomination being declared, there 
immediately arose the most intense excitement and unbounded 
enthusiasm, and when it was announced to the immense, surg- 
ing crowd on the outside that 44 Abe Lincoln is nominated," the 
immense cheering actually drowned the noise of the cannon 
firing the salute. 

While these events were transpiring in Chicago, Mr. Lincoln 
was at home in Springfield anxiously awaiting the click of the 
telegraph. At last the momentous clicking began, and the 
messenger who bore to Mr. Lincoln the telegram said : 

4 4 The convention has made a nomination, and Mr. Seward is 
— the second man on the list." 

Mr. Lincoln's feelings can better be imagined than described, 
but after a moment's silence, when the congratulations were 
over, he remarked : 

4 ' There is a little woman on Eighth street who has some in- 
terest in the matter ;" and, putting the telegram in his pocket, 
he rapidly walked home. The news soon spread in Springfield, 
and Mr. Lincoln's house was thronged with visitors heaping 
their congratulations upon him. A salute of a hundred guns 
was fired, and in the evening the State-House was brilliantly 
illuminated and thrown open for a great meeting of the citi- 
zens, who, at the close, marched in a body to Mr. Lincoln's 
house and called for him with the most enthusiastic cheering. 
In response, Mr. Lincoln came out and made an appropriate 
speech. Then he invited as many into the house as could get 
in, and entertained them until a late hour. 

The next day he was waited upon by the committee of the 
convention, and officially informed of his nomination. In an- 
ticipation of this official visit some of Mr. Lincoln's friends sent 
in several baskets of wines and liquors, but true to his cold- 
water principles, Mr. Lincoln politely returned them and drank 
the health of the committee in the only beverage he had ever 
used in his family, pure water. 

It soon became necessary to set aside a room in the State 
House for public receptions, so great was the throng that con- 
tinually came to pay homage to this great self-made man. It 
was so universally believed that Mr. Lincoln would be elected 



278 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



President, that crowds who sought the public patronage came 
daily, as we]l as those who called for the sake of old acquaint- 
ance or political friendship. But to all alike was Mr. Lincoln 
courteous and kind, and especially so was he toward the hum- 
ble poor, so many of whom had known and befriended him in 
the days of his early struggles with the adversities of life. 
Upon one occasion two awkward, bashful young fellows came 
in while Mr. Lincoln was talking to a number of gentlemen, 
and seeing that they appeared ill at ease, he excused himself for 
a moment from his company, and stepped up to them and said: 
"How do you do, my good fellows ! What can I do for you? 
Will you sit down ? " One of them then explained that there 
had been a matter of dispute in reference to the relative height 
of Mr. Lincoln and his companion. Upon this explanation of 
the visit Mr. Lincoln good-naturedly stood up with the young 
man against the wall and compared heights, declaring as he 
rubbed his head back and forth under the measurement that he 
and the young man were exactly the same height. At another 
time an old and poorly-dressed woman came to see him and 
reminded him of a very poor dinner she had once given him, 
when he had declared that it was good enough for the Presi- 
dent of the United States. Mr. Lincoln remembered the old 
lady, and talked so kindly and pleasantly to her of old times 
that she went away very happy. 

One thing that both surprised and pained Mr. Lincoln was to 
find that nearly all the ministers of the gospel in Springfield 
were opposed to his election: <k These men," said he, "well 
know that I am for freedom in the territories, freedom every- 
where as far as the Constitution and laws will permit, and 
that my opponents are for slavery. They know this, and yet, 
with this holy Book in their hands, in the light of which human 
bondage cannot live a moment, they are going to vote against 
me." Continuing after a pause, with a trembling voice and his 
cheeks wet with tears, he said: ' ' 1 know that there is a God 
and that He hates injustice and slavery. I see the storm com- 
ing and I know that His hand is in it. If He has a place for 
me, and I think He has, I believe I am ready. I know I am 
right because I know that liberty is right, for Christ teaches it. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



279 



Douglas don't care whether slavery is voted up or voted down, 
but God cares and humanity cares and I care, and with God's 
help I shall not fail. Doesn't it appear strange that men can 
ignore the moral aspects of this contest ? A revelation could 
not make it plainer to me that slavery or the government 
must be destroyed. It seems as if God had borne with this 
slavery until the very teachers of religion have come to defend 
it from the Bible, and to claim for it a divine character and 
sanction, and now the cup of iniquity is full and the vials of 
wrath will be poured out." 

Thus, with a consciousness of the right and justice of his 
course, Mr. Lincoln waited quietly the result of the election. 
The result at last came, and it gave Mr. Lincoln one hundred 
and eighty electoral votes, Mr. Breckinridge seventy-two, Mr. 
Bell thirty-nine, and Mr. Douglas twelve. 

As was naturally expected, Mr. Lincoln's election created 
great rejoicing among the Republicans, great uneasiness among 
the Northern Democrats and Southern Union men, and intense 
indignation among the Secessionists. For a short time there 
was a lull before the storm, and many, even of the Republicans, 
believed that the impending crisis would be averted. But the 
day of conflict was rapidly approaching. South Carolina began 
preparations in four days after the election, by mustering ten 
thousand volunteers and calling for a convention to pass an act 
of secession. This was followed up on the 27th of December, 
1860, by the seizure of Fort Moultrie and Castle Pinckney and 
the revenue cutter William Aiken, in Charleston Harbor. 

On the 30th of December the arsenal was seized. This was 
followed, on the 2d of January, 1861, by the North Carolinians 
taking possession of Fort Macon and the arsenal at Fayetteville. 
Forts Pulaski and Jackson and the arsenal at Savannah fell into 
the hands of the Georgians on the 3d, and on the 4th Fort Morgan 
and the Mobile arsenal were taken possession of by the State of 
Alabama, and thus in succession Forts Johnson. Connel, McRae, 
Barrancas, Pike, St. Philip and Jackson, and the navy yard at 
Pensacola and arsenal at Baton Rouge, passed into the hands of 
the rebels. 

While these unlawful acts were being perpetrated the 



280 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS* 



Southern States began passing acts of secession, which rapidly 
culminated in the formation of a Southern Confederacy, with 
Jefferson Davis as President, and a Cabinet and Congress and 
general form of government similar to that of the United 
States, save that slavery and State rights were made the funda- 
mental principles of the new government which had been un- 
lawfully and unconstitutionally formed. 

During all these overt acts of rebellion President Buchanan 
sat in the executive chair a contemptible picture of imbecility, 
doing nothing and forbidding General Scott and other loyal 
military and naval officers from taking any steps to oppose the 
acts of rebellion. 

Such was the desperate condition of affairs on the 11th of 
February, 1861, when Mr. Lincoln left his peaceful home in 
Springfield for the turmoil and strife and cares and anxieties 
and excitement of his Presidential career in Washington. 
Everywhere on his journey through the Northern States the 
public greeted him with the greatest enthusiasm, and in a num- 
ber of the principal cities he stopped and accepted the hospitali- 
ties ai d ovations of the citizens, both receiving and delivering 
addresses appropriate to each special occasion. In this way he 
passed through Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Pittsburgh, 
Cleveland, Buffalo, Albany, New York, Philadelphia, and other 
cities. As he approached nearer to the National Capital, it 
became evident that a plot was on foot for his assassination, 
and threats had been freely made that he should never be 
inaugurated. Baltimore was evidently the dangerous point on 
the route, and the intention was to kill Mr. Lincoln during a 
riot gotten up for the purpose as the train passed through the 
city. This plan was thwarted by a secret and special train 
being provided to take him through at an hour when he was 
not expected. On this train he passed rapidly through, and 
arrived at Washington at daylight the next morning. 

At last the eventful 4th of March dawned upon the country, 
when the inauguration of a President was to take place which 
was to precipitate war upon the cou atry by the acts of the re- 
bellious States. The crowd which had assembled was an im- 
mense concourse of human beings, and the procession was very 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



281 



grand and imposing, as well as formidable by the strong mili- 
tary display which General Scott had provided in anticipation 
of any attempt at riot or assassination. In the procession Mr. 
Buchanan and Mr. Lincoln rode in the same carriage. 

Mr. Lincoln, on arriving at the Capitol, delivered his inaugu- 
ral address, of which the following contains the most important 
sentiments : 

" Fellow Citizens op the United States: In compliance with a custom 
as old as the Government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly, 
and to take in your presence the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the 
United States, to betaken by the President before he enters on the execu- 
tion of his office. 

" Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States 
that by the accession of a Republican administration their property and 
their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never 
been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample 
evidence to the contrary has all the while existed, and been open to their 
inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now 
addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare 
that I have no purpose directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution 
of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to 
do so, and I have no inclination to do so. Those who nominated and elected 
me did so with the full knowledge that I have made this and many similar 
declarations, and have never recanted them; and, more than this, they 
placed in the platform, for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and 
to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read : 

" ' Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of States, and 
especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic in- 
stitutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that 
balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political 
fabric depends ; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of 
the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among 
the gravest of crimes.' 

" I add, too, that all the protection that can consistently with the Constitu- 
tion and the laws be given, will be cheerfully extended to all the States 
when lawfully demanded, for whatever cause ; as cheerfully to one cause as 
to another. 

"A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now for- 
midably attempted. I hold that in the contemplation of universal law, and of 
the Constitution, the union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is im- 
plied, if rot expressed, in the fundamental law of all national Governments. 
It is safe to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its or- 
ganic law for its own termination. Continue to execute all the express pro- 
visions of our national Constitution, an<J the Upion will endure forever ; it 



282 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



being impossible to destroy it, except by some action not provided for in the 
instrument itself. 

" The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by 
the Articles of Association, in 1774. It was matured and continued in the 
Declaration of Independence, in 1776. It was f urther matured, and the faith 
of all the then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should 
be perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation, in 1778 ; and finally, in 1787, 
one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the Constitution 
was to form a more perfect Union. But if the destruction of the Union by 
one or by a part only of the States be lawfully possible, the Union is less per- 
fect than before; the Constitution having lost the vital element of perpetuity. 

"It follows from these views that no State, upon its own mere motion, can 
lawfully get out of the Union ; that resolves and ordinances to that effect 
are legally void, and that acts of violence within any State or States against 
the authority of the United States are insurrectionary or revolutionary, ac- 
cording to circumstances. 

" I therefore consider, that, in view of the Constitution and the laws, the 
Union is not broken ; and to the extent of my ability I shall take care, as the 
. Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union 
shall be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this, which I deem to 
be only a simple duty on my part, I shall certainly perform it so far as is 
practicable, unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold 
the requisition, or in some authoritative manner direct the contrary. 

" All the vital rights of minorities and individuals are so plainly assured to 
them by affirmations and negations, guarantees and prohibitions, in the Con- 
stitution, that controversies never arise concerning them, but no organic law 
can ever be framed with a provision specifically applicable to every question 
which may occur in practical administration. No foresight can anticipate, 
nor any document of reasonable length contain, express provisions for all 
possible questions. Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by National 
or by State authorities ? The Constitution does not expressly say. Must 
Congress protect slavery in the Territories ? The Constitution does not ex- 
pressly say. From questions of this class spring all our Constitutional con- 
troversies, and we decide upon them into majorities and minorities. 

"If the minority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or the government 
must cease. There is no alternative for continuing the government but 
acquiescence on the one side or the other. If a minority in such a 
case will secede rather than acquiesce, they make a precedent which, in 
turn, will ruin and divide them ; for a minority of their own vrill secede from 
them whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by such a minority ; for 
instance, why not any portion of a new confederacy, a year or two hence, 
arbitrarily secede again, precisely as portions of the present Union now 
claim to secede from it ? All who cherish disunion sentiments are now be- 
ing educated to the exact temper of doing this. Is there such perfect iden- 
tity of interests among the States to compose a new Union to produce 
harmony only, and prevent secession ? Plainly, the central idea of secession 
is the essence of anarchy. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



283 



" One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be 
extended ; while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be 
extended. And this is the only substantial dispute. Physically speaking, 
we cannot separate ; we cannot remove our respective sections from each 
other, nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife 
may be divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each 
other ; but the different parts of our country cannot do this. They cannot 
but remain face to face ; and intercourse either amicable or hostile must 
continue between them. Is it possible then to make that intercourse more 
advantageous or more satisfactory after separation than before ? Can aliens 
make treaties easier than friends can make laws ? Can treaties be more 
faithfully enforced between aliens than can laws among friends ? Suppose 
you go to war, you cannot fight always; and when, after much loss on both 
sides, and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical questions as to 
terms of intercourse are again upon you. 

''If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side of the 
dispute, there is still no single reason for precipitate action. Intelligence, 
patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet for- 
saken this favored land, are still competent to adjust in the best way all our 
present difficulties. 

"In your hands, my dissatisfied countrymen, and not in mine, is the mo- 
mentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. 

" You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You 
have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government ; while I shall 
have the most solemn one to ' preserve, protect and defend ' it. 

" I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be 
enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds 
of affection. 

"The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and 
patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, 
will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they 
will be, by the better angels of our nature." 

Thus ended his noble and patriotic address, and nothing more 
remained but to administer the oath of office which was to 
place Mr. Lincoln in the executive chair of the nation at the 
most perilous period of our national existence. It was hopeless 
to think that aught he said or that any man could say would 
turn aside the red hand of rebellion and war which was raised 
in the South, and nothing remained but for the President to 
select his Cabinet and prepare to uphold the Union in its 
integrity and honor. 

The selection of his Cabinet was wise and suitable to the grave 
demands of the hour. Mr. Seward was selected for Secretary 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



of State ; Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of War 
Gideon Welles, of Connecticut, Secretary of the Navy ; Salmor 
P. Chase, of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury ; Caleb B. Smith, 
of Indiana, Secretary of the Interior ; Edward Bates, of Mis^ 
souri, Attorney-General, and Montgomery Blair, of Maryland, 
Postmaster-General. 

Language is scarcely adequate to describe the condition of 
affairs at this particular period. Every department of the 
Government in Washington and elsewhere was full of rebel 
sympathizers, who were in every way giving aid and comfort to 
the enemies of the Union. The diplomatic departments abroad 
were full of those who had been appointed under the previous 
administration for the purpose of moulding European opinion 
against the Government and securing their sympathy and aid 
for the cause of rebellion. The first labor was to clear these 
Augean stables of treason, and substitute loyalty and patriotism 
in their stead. The next important work was to quietly 
strengthen the hands of the Government wherever possible, and 
yet to do this in such a manner as not to give the Secessionists 
a pretext for the commencement of hostilities. Even the North 
was hesistating and divided as to the policy which should be 
adopted, and only the seceded States seemed united to a man. 
Something was needed to unite the Union-loving people of the 
country. That something was supplied the day Fort Sumter 
fell. Never before, perhaps, in the history of the world did any 
people spring forward with such feelings of indignation and 
with such a spirit of resistance as did the loyal people of the 
United States when the starry flag of our country had been 
fired upon and one of our forts had been battered by rebel guns 
and forced to surrender with its heroic garrison. On that day 
the United States Government, through the people, rose grand 
and sublime in her strength, and party lines were swept away. 
The one common sentiment that pervaded the public mind was 
to resent the insult to the flag and force the seceded States to 
return to the Union. 

For the first time Mr. Lincoln had an opportunity for action. 
An insurrectionary war had now been inaugurated by the seceded 
States, which had organized the so-called Southern Confed- 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN* 



285 



eracy, with Jefferson Davis as President, and the seat of govern- 
ment at Montgomery, Alabama. 

On the 15th of April, 1861, three days after the fall of Fort 
Sumter, Mr. Lincoln issued the memorable proclamation calling 
for seventy-five thousand volunteers to defend the national 
Capitol and finally to recover possession of the forts, arsenals 
and navy yards belonging to the United States which had been 
taken by the rebels. To facilitate action, the proclamation also 
convened Congress to assemble on the 4th of July. 

The greatest excitement and enthusiasm was created by the 
proclamation, and Stephen A. Douglas said to Mr. Lincoln : 

"Mr. President, I cordially concur in every word of that 
document, except that in the call for seventy-five thousand 
men I would make it two hundred thousand. You do not 
know the dishonest purposes of those men as well as I do." 

In the calm light of history we can see to-day that it should 
have been a call for even more than two hundred thousand 
men, but the traitorous Secretary of War, Floyd, during 
Buchanan's administration, had robbed the Northern arsenals 
of arms and sent them South to be used against the govern- 
ment, and it was found difficult to even supply munitions of 
war to the force called for. This the South knew, and they 
laughed to scorn the attempt to put down the rebellion with 
the facilities the government possessed, and the rebel Secretary 
of "War said in Montgomery, just after the fall of Fort Sumter : 

' ' No man can tell where this war will end, but I will prophesy 
that the flag which now flaunts to the breeze above us will 
float over the dome of the old Capitol at Washington before the 
first of May, and may float eventually over Faneuil Hall itself." 

The next necessary action was for Mr. Lincoln to declare a 
blockade of the ports in the seceded States. 

After this important mihtary movements were made as 
rapidly as possible. Washington was rendered safe against 
surprise and capture. Fortress Monroe was reinforced, and 
Cairo, 111., was occupied by government troops, and the block- 
ade was extended to the ports of Virginia and North Carolina. 
This was followed by the formation of the new military depart- 
ments. 



£86 



LIVES OF OUE PRESIDENTS. 



On the 3d of May Mr. Lincoln called for forty-two thousand 
additional volunteers and for twenty- two thousand seven hun- 
dred and fourteen men for different classes of service in the 
regular army. There was also a call made for eighteen thousand 
men to serve in the navy. 

During this time the rebels were not idle, but were spreading 
their field of operations and taking possession of important 
points and throwing their troops into the slave States which 
had not seceded, with a view of forcing them out of the Union. 
In this they were encouraged and aided by disloyal officials of 
the States, the Governor of Missouri doing all in his power to 
throw his State into rebel hands, until General Lyon took 
military possession, and by seizing the arms in the St. Louis 
Arsenal for the Government troops, saved them from falling 
into the hands of our enemies. The so-called Confederate army 
was officered by many men from the regular Army, a number of 
whom were graduates of West Point, and at the commence- 
ment of hostilities they had been brought up to an excellent 
military condition, while our army was far from satisfactory. 

On the 22d of May, General Butler took command of the De- 
partment of the South and made his headquarters at Fortress 
Monroe, and on the 10th of June occurred the battle of Big 
Bethel. But a still more serious lesson was to be learned by the 
people of the Union. On the 19th of July began that bloody 
and cruel battle of Bull Run, which ended on the 21st in such a 
terrible rout of our forces, in which the entire army fled panic- 
stricken in the greatest disorder to Washington. 

This experience, even at so dear a cost, was after all a probable 
blessing in disguise. It brought the people of the country to 
realize how terrible a war had come upon us, and that if we 
would win we must become more imbued with the spirit and 
scathless courage of the Revolutionary patriots who taught us 
such a glorious lesson of endurance and devotion to a holy cause. 
In maintaining the integrity of the Union for which they had 
fought and died, our purpose was as noble as theirs, and defeat 
brought out the heroic part of our natures. 

It cannot be denied that the rebellion suffered a great disap- 
pointment in being unable to force all the slave States out of 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



287 



the Union. This hope they cherished for many months, and 
with almost equal results awaited the recognition of their sep- 
arate nationality by the governments of Europe. At almost the 
very opening of hostilities England and France had recognized 
the rebellious States as a belligerent power, and had it not been 
for the persistent diplomacy of Mr. Lincoln, through his able 
Secretary, Mr. Seward, it is certain that a general recognition 
of the insurrectionary government would have been made. 

Congress had, in accordance with the President's proclama- 
tion, met on the 4th of July, and in his message Mr. Lincoln 
urged that the contest be made a short and decisive one by 
placing at the control of the Government four hundred thou- 
sand men and four hundred million dollars. Mr. Lincoln then 
in his message took up the subject of State rights, and argued 
it in its relation to the right of secession as claimed, for the pur- 
pose not only of refuting the fallacy at home, but of convincing 
foreign governments of the entire lack of foundation for such 
a doctrine. 

Congress, fully recognizing the exigencies of the hour, placed 
five hundred millions of dollars and five hundred thousand 
troops at the disposal of the President, and fully indorsed all 
his measures for the suppression of the rebellion. There were 
naturally rebel sympathizers in Congress, and men who pro- 
tested and voted against every loyal measure, but the friends 
of the Union were greatly in the majority. 

On the 31st of August, General Fremont, in command of the 
Department of Missouri, issued a proclamation declaring mar- 
tial law within the lines of military occupation, and threaten- 
ing with death all those found within the lines with arms in 
their hands, also confiscating all the real and personal property 
of persons in the State who should take up arms against the 
United States, and declaring their slaves, when possessed, free. 
This proclamation created great excitement in the loyal slave 
States and caused the friends of the Union to fear that it might 
precipitate some of them into secession. 

Mr. Lincoln disapproved of the severe measures of the procla- 
mation, and he requested General Fremont to modify some 
portions of it, and especially that in reference to the liberation 



288 



LIVES OF OUH PRESIDENTS. 



of slaves, so that it would conform to the confiscation act just 
passed by Congress, by which only those slaves were freed that 
were engaged in rebel service. 

Early in November the memorable Trent affair occurred, by 
which the boarding of that vessel by Captain Wilkes and tak- 
ing off Mason and Slidell, the rebel commissioners, so nearly 
precipitated war between the United States and England, a 
disaster which was averted only by the masterly diplomacy of 
Mr. Seward, and however much our Government may have been 
blamed and even sneered at for the concession we made, it must 
be admitted that its peaceable results sealed the doom of the 
rebellion and lost them the chance of winning their cause 
through the aid of England. It was policy, not cowardice, 
that actuated us in the concession, and if we had any wounded 
honor to nurse, the Alabama claims applied the healing salve 
very soon afterward. 

On the 2d of December, 1861, the regular session of Congress 
met, and Mr. Lincoln's annual message opened with reference 
to the attitude of foreign governments, and advised that, 
should those governments' be controlled only by material con- 
siderations, they would find that the quickest and best way out 
of the embarrassments of commerce caused by American dim 
culties would be rather through the maintenance than the de- 
struction of the Union. "Since, however," he continued, "it 
is apparent that here, as in every other State, foreign dangers 
necessarily attend domestic difficulties, I recommend that ade- 
quate and ample measures be adopted for maintaining the pub- 
lic defenses on every side." 

The message then reviewed the favorable progress of the war 
for the Union cause, and gave the gratifying intelligence that 
the three States of Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri, neither 
of which would promise a single soldier at first, had then an 
aggregate of not less than forty thousand men in the field for 
the Union. 

About this time Mr. Lincoln began to detect in the public 
mind a growing sentiment in favor of abolishing slavery, and 
this encouraged him to put his own principles into action. 
With this end in view, on the 6th of March, 1862, he sent a mes- 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



289 



sage to Congress, recommending the passage of a joint resolu- 
tion which should in substance be as follows : 

"Resolved, That the United States ought to co-operate with any State 
which may gradually adopt abolishment of slavery, giving to such State 
pecuniary aid, to be used by such State at its discretion, to compensate for 
inconveniences, public and private, produced by such change of system." 

It could plainly be seen that circumstances were drifting to 
the freedom of the slaves, and that Mr. Lincoln was struggling 
as long as possible in his kind feeling toward the loyal slave 
States to leave slavery unmolested even in the rebellious States 
for their sakes, but these States were blind to the inevitable 
results of the war, and made no effort to accept of the measures 
of Mr. Lincoln's resolution, although the President was at that 
time gradually preparing the public mind for emancipation. 

At last Mr. Lincoln fully realized the military necessity of pun- 
ishing the rebellious States and inflicting upon them a serious 
blow by issuing his long-premeditated Emancipation Proclama- 
tion, and oa the 22d of September, 1862, be published the memor- 
able document declaring that on the 1st of January, 1863, all 
the slaves in the States then continuing in rebellion should 
be free. 

Naturally, the most intense excitement followed this bold and 
extreme measure. Even his Cabinet were taken completely by 
surprise whf n he called them together for the purpose of read- 
ing it to them, at first during the summer of 1862. In present^ 
ing it to them he stated that his purpose was made up and he 
did not ask for advice, but only for suggestions on minor points. 
The first suggestion came from Mr. Chase, who desired the 
language stronger in reference to arming the blacks. Mr. Blair 
urged that it would lose us the fall elections. Mr. Seward then 
said : "Mr. President, I approve of the proclamation, but I 
question the expediency of its issue at this juncture. The 
depression of the public mind consequent upon our reported 
r versus is so great that I fear so important a step. It may be 
viewed as the last measure of an exhausted Government — aery 
for help ; the Government stretching forth its hands to Ethi- 
opia, instead of Ethiopia stretching forth its hands to the 
Government ; our last shriek on retreat.'* And he advised its 



290 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



postponement until it could follow after military success, in- 
stead of some of the greatest r^ verses of the war. 

This presented the matter in a new light to Mr. Lincoln, and 
he admitted the sound judgment of Mr. Seward that it would 
not be a favorable time to present it to the public just after 
General Pope's disaster at Bull Run and his precipitate retreat 
upon Washington, so Mr. Lincoln waited until the victory at 
Antietam gave the favorable opportunity, then he immediately 
rewrote and improved the original proclamation, and, calling 
his Cabinet together, informed them that the time for giving 
the proclamation to the country could no longer be delayed, 
and said he : "I made a solemn vow before God that if General 
Lee should be driven back from Pennsylvania I would crown 
the result by the declaration of freedom to the slaves." 

The proclamation at first created universal discussion both in 
the army and out, and while the anti-slavery men were filled 
with delight, the conservative element were gravely in doubt as 
to the effect, while the special lovers of the institution were full 
of threatening denunciations. It was not long, however, before 
it was realized that both at home and abroad the act strength- 
ened the Government more than the most overwhelming vic- 
tory could have done, while it became a crown of glory to Mr. 
Lincoln which glitters brighter and brighter as time passes on. 

The preamble of the proclamation issued on the 1st of 
January, 1863, quoting from his preliminary proclamation, 
continued as follows : 

"Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, 
by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief of th<* United 
States in time of act; al armed rebellion against the authority and 
government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for 
suppressing said rebellion, do on this first day of January, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with 
my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred 
days from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States 
and parts of S*a + es wherein the people thereof respectively are this day in 
rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:" 

Then follow the names of the States, with the exception of 
certain parishes in Louisiana, the forty-eight counties of West 
Virginia, and certain counties in Virginia : 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



291 



*' And, by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and 
declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and 
parts of tates, are, and henceforth shall be free; and that the executive 
Government of the United States, including the military and naval author- 
ities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. 

" And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free, to abstain 
from all violence, unless in necessary self-defense ; and I recommend to 
them that in all cases, when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable 
wages. 

" And I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable 
condition will be received into the armed service of the United States, to 
garrison forts, positions, stations and other places, and to man vessels of all 
sorts in said service. 

" And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted 
by the Constitution, upon military necessity, J. invoke the considerate judg- 
ment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God. 

"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my name, and caused the 
seal of the United States to be affixed. 

" Done at the City of Washington this first day of January, in the year of 
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independ- 
ence of the United States the eighty -seventh. 

[L. s.] "ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

" William H. Seward, Secretary of State." 

On the 24th of September, 1862, Mr. Lincoln had issued his 
proclamation suspending the writ of habeas corpus. This he 
considered necessary to reach with suitable punishment the 
spies and informers with which the country abounded, as well 
as that class who discouraged enlistment and sought every 
opportunity to oppose the acts of the administration, and under 
the guise of political or party opposition to discourage the war 
for the maintenance of the Union. 

This proclamation at once caused a great outcry to be raised 
against the so-called military despotism which had endangered 
the public liberty and by the act of the President subverted the 
Constitution. At the next session of Congress the proclamation 
was the subject of complaint and animated discussion. A large 
majority in Congress, however, were on the side of Mr. Lin- 
coln, and a bill was passed sustaining him and indemnifying 
him and all who acted under the proclamation. 

Mr. Lincoln's regard for the sacred observance of the Sabbath 
actuated him to issue a circular letter to the army impressing 
upon them the 4 'importance for man and beast of the prescribed 



292 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



weekly rest; the sacred rights of Christian soldiers and sailors, a 
becoming deference to the best sentiment of a Christian people, 
and a due regard for the Divine will, demand that Sunday 
labor in the army and navy be reduced to the measure of strict 
necessity. The discipline and character of the national forces 
should not suffer, nor the cause they defend be imperiled, by 
the profanation of the day or the name of the Most High." 

Mr. Lincoln had a dream of the colonization of the blacks in 
South America or Liberia or Hayti, but this dream was dissi- 
pated by one serious objection : the blacks had no desire to be 
colonized, and preferred to remain as " hewers of wood and 
drawers of water" in the land of the whites. 

One of Mr. Lincoln's wise measures was the advocacy, in his 
annual message, of the national bank system for the production 
of a uniform currency, secured by the pledge of United States 
bonds. The bill at the time was viewed as a somewhat doubt- 
ful experiment, but fortunately for the financial condition of 
the country it was passed, and time has proven the great wis- 
dom of Mr. Lincoln as a financier. 

As time passed on the repeated victories of the Union forces 
in different parts of the country were giving us unmistakable 
headway in crushing the rebellion. It was slow and bloody 
work, however, and here and there rebel successes offset our 
victories. But the falling into our hands of New Orleans and 
Vicksburg, and Forts Donelson and Henry, and similar strong- 
holds of the rebellion, were slowly but surely breaking its back- 
bone. 

The first three years of the war produced a very marked 
effect upon Mr. Lincoln. He was strong and robust as a back- 
woodsman when he entered upon his executive duties, but with 
all possible care of himself, he became, in that short time, a 
prematurely aged and feeble man, always complaining of being 
tired. If anything could refresh him, it was his favorite pas- 
time of relating anecdotes. He loved to read Artemus Ward, 
and he also liked the recreation of the theatre. 

The soldiers who were bearing the heat and burden of the 
war always held a near place in his heart and sympathy. 
Upon one occasion, when he had just written a pardon for a 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



293 



young soldier who had been condemned by court martial to be 
shot for sleeping at his post as a sentinel, Mr. Lincoln re- 
marked : 

" I could not think of going into eternity with the blood of 
that poor young man on my skirts. It is not to be wondered 
at that a boy raised on a farm, probably in the habit of going 
to bed at dark, should, when required to watch, fall asleep ; 
and I cannot consent to shoot him for such an act." The Kev. 
Newman Hall, in his funeral sermon upon Mr. Lincoln, said 
that this young soldier was found dead on the field of Fred- 
ericksburg with Mr. Lincoln's photograph next to his heart, 
on which he had inscribed, " God bless President Lincoln." 

At another time there were twenty-four deserters sentenced 
to be shot, and the warrants for their execution were sent to 
the President to be signed. He refused, and the general of the 
division went to Washington to see Mr. Lincoln. At the inter- 
view he said to the President that unless these men were made 
an example of, the army itself would be in danger. Mercy to 
the few is cruelty to the many. But Mr. Lincoln replied: 
" 1>here are already too many weeping widows in the United 
States. For God's sake don't ask me to add to the number, for 
I won't do it." 

On another occasion a young soldier had fallen out of ranks 
when his regiment passed through Washington, and getting 
drunk failed to join his regiment when it left the city. To the 
friend who came to secure a pardon, Mr. Lincoln said : ' Well, 
I think the boy can do us more good above ground than under 
ground," and he wrote out the pardon. 

In all such cases as the above, Awhere the ordinary human 
weakness was the motive, Mr. Lincoln's heart was tender as a 
woman's, but to prove that he could entertain no sy mpathy for 
a cool, deliberate, mercenary crime, he was approached by the 
Hon. John B. Alley, of Massachusetts, one day, with a petition 
for the pardon of a man who had been convicted of engaging in 
the slave trade, and sentenced to five years' imprisonment and 
the payment of a fine of one thousand dollars. His term of im- 
prisonment had expired, but in default of payment of the fine, 
he was still held. In answer to the appeal for pardon Mr. Lin- 



294 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



coin said : " You know my weakness is to be, if possible, too 
easily moved by appeals for mercy, and if this man were guilty 
of the foulest murder that the arm of man could perpetrate, I 
might forgive him on such an appeal ; but the man who would 
go to Africa and rob her of her children, and sell them into an 
interminable bondage with no other motive than that which is 
furnished by dollars and cents, is so much worse than the most 
depraved murderer, that he can never receive pardon at my 
hands. No, he may rot in jail before he shall have liberty by 
any act of mine." 

Upon another occasion the wife of a rebel officer, held as a 
prisoner of war, begged for the release of her husband, and to 
strengthen her appeal said that he was a very religious man. 
In granting the release of her husband, Mr. Lincoln said: " Tell 
your husband when you meet him that I am not much of a 
judge of religion, but that in my opinion the religion that sets 
men to rebel and fight against their government because they 
think that government does not sufficiently help some men to eat 
their bread in the sweat of other men's faces, is not the sort of 
religion upon which men can get to heaven." 

One day news of a great battle in progress reached Mr. Lin- 
coln, and his anxiety was so great that he could eat nothing. 
Soon after he was seen to take a Bible and retire to his room, 
and in a few minutes he was overheard in one of the most ear- 
nest prayers for the success of our arms. Later in the day a 
Union victory was announced, and Mr. Lincoln, with a beam- 
ing face, exclaimed: " Good news ! good news ! The victory is 
ours, and God is good." 

Mr. Lincoln was as simple and unassuming in his manner 
and habits in the Presidential position in the White House as if 
he were in his Western home. "If you see a newsboy down 
the street, send him up this way," said he one morning to a 
passer-by, as he stood at the gate waiting for a morning paper. 
He persisted in walking the streets of Washington both day 
and night unaccompanied, notwithstanding the warning of his 
friends against exposing himself to danger. It was to him 
always a gleam of sunshine through the clouds of war to meet 
his old Western friends and talk over old times. It was plainly 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



295 



to be seen that he was wearing out. The care and anxiety were 
too much for human endurance. ' ' How willingly would I ex- 
change places to-day with the soldier who sleeps on the ground 
in the Army of the Potomac," said he one day to the Hon. 
Schuyler Colfax. At another time he said to a visitor: "I feel 
a presentiment that I shall not outlast the rebellion. "When it 
is over my work will be done." 

At the Eepublican Convention held in Baltimore on the 8th 
of June, 1864, Mr. Lincoln, upon the first ballot, received every 
vote except twenty-two from Missouri, which were cast for 
General Grant, but on motion of the Missouri delegation the 
nomination was made unanimous. To the committee that 
waited upon Mr. Lincoln to inform him of his nomination he 
said : 

" Having served four years in the depths of a great and yet unended na- 
tional peril, I can view this call to a second term in nowise more nattering 
to myself than as an expression of the public judgment that I may better 
finish a difficult work, in which I have labored from the first, than could 
any one less severely schooled to the task. In this view, and with assured 
reliance on that Almighty Ruler who has so graciously sustained us thus 
far, and with increased gratitude to the generous people for their con- 
tinued confidence. I accept the renewed trust, with its yet onerous and per- 
plexing duties and responsibilities.' ' 

The election resulted in giving Mr. Lincoln an overwhelming 
majority over General McClellan, the Democratic candidate, 
Mr. Lincoln having received 212 electoral votes out of the total 
233, and a popular majority in every State except Kentucky, 
Delaware and New Jersey. 

Mr. Lincoln's re-election was a grand triumph for the Union 
cause, for it destroyed the hope of the rebellion, and so com- 
pletely silenced the disaffected elements of the Northern States 
that it greatly strengthened the hands of the army, and in- 
spired them with greater confidence and determination to crush 
out the rebellion. 

From this date the military operations were marked with 
great energy and signal success. While General Grant was 
sweeping Lee from his old lines on the Potomac, General Sher- 
man was beginning his grand march to the sea that practically 
Qut the* rebellion in two, 



296 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



On the 5th of December Congress again met, and Mr. Lincoln 
sent in his annual message, in which he urged the passage of 
an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting slavery through- 
out the United States. A similar measure had been defeated at 
the previous session, but Mr. Lincoln saw that the country was 
more favorable to the movement. His re-election and the suc- 
cesses of the army had greatly changed public opinion. The 
result of the President's earnest suggestion resulted in the pass- 
age of the sought-for amendment to the Constitution abolish- 
ing slavery in all the States. The popularity of the measure is 
proven by the fact that it received more than the two-thirds 
vote necessary for its passage. 

To Mr. Lincoln this seemed the crowning work of his life, and 
in expressing his great gratification at the result, he uttered 
the sentiment that it was the one thing necessary to the wind- 
ing up of the whole difficulty, and that it completed and con- 
firmed the work of his Emancipation Proclamation, and he 
awaited only its ratification by the votes of the States. 

On the 3d of March Congress adjourned, at which time Mr. 
Lincoln's first term of office expired. The changes had indeed 
been great during the four years since he had taken his seat. 
Four years of one of the greatest wars in human history had 
been fought, which was rapidly sweeping the rebellion into 
hopeless defeat, and the peculiar institution it was inaugurated 
to sustain into inevitable dissolution. Since his first inaugura- 
tion Mr. Lincoln had proven himself one of the greatest states- 
men of this or any other age, and he stood sublime before the 
world as one of the greatest benefactors of human kind ; and 
yet the simplicity and modesty which characterized him at his 
first inaugural marked his demeanor upon the occasion of the 
second. His inaugural address closed with that noble and 
memorable sentiment : " With malice toward none, with 
charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to 
see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to 
bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have 
borne the battle and for his widow and orphans, to do all which 
may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among our- 
selves and with all nations." 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



297 



It was but a short time after this before the rebellion was on 
the eve of its final collapse. General Sherman, after his march 
to the sea, had started North with his irresistible force, and was 
indeed making the rebellious States feel the iron heel of war. 
General Johnston was fleeing northward, while General Grant 
was holding Lee in Eichmond in an almost helpless condition. 
On the 29th of March the Army of the Potomac began the grand 
march which so soon resulted in the surrender of Lee and the 
end of the rebellion. 

It was to Mr. Lincoln one of the greatest rewards of his years 
of labor, to enter the rebel capital as soon as it was occupied by 
our troops and receive from the joyful crowds of liberated 
blacks their humble expressions of thankfulness and praise. 
"Glory to God!" "Bless de Lord!" and "May de good Lord 
bless you, President Linkum!" were the excited ejaculations he 
heard on every side as the happy people crowded around him. 

With Johnston's surrender the rebellion was ended, and the 
greatest rejoicing spread over the entire country, and the uni- 
versal praise of Mr. Lincoln was upon every tongue. The 
grandest results had been realized from his measures and acts. 
The curse of rebellion had been swept away, and the stain of 
African slavery had been wiped from American institutions. 

On the subject of reconstruction he said in a previous 
letter: " I cannot see, if universal amnesty is granted, how 
under the circumstances I can avoid exacting in return uni- 
versal suffrage, or at least suffrage on the basis of intelligence 
and military service." 

We are now rapidly approaching the sad and tragic end of 
Mr. Lincoln's life. Although he knew that plots for his assas- 
sination were originated from the day he left Springfield for 
his inauguration, and although he had often predicted that he 
would not outlast the rebellion, still it is probable, when the 
war had ended and he had survived it, that he gave no further 
thought to assassination, and felt a relief that danger from 
violence was ended. 

The eventful 14th of April dawned upon Washington, and 
found Mr. Lincoln busy with his friends. General Grant was 
in the city, and had been invited to attend the Cabinet meeting 



298 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



held upon that day. On the day previous the manager of 
Ford's Theatre had invited Mr. Lincoln and General Grant to 
be present at the performance on the evening of the 14th of the 
play of ' ' Our American Cousin," and the announcement of 
their intended presence was made in the Washington papers 
for the purpose of drawing a crowd. 

General Grant left the city during the day, and Mr. Lincoln, 
realizing that it would be a great disappointment to the people 
if he also failed to attend, decided to go, and Mr. and Mrs. 
Lincoln drove to the house of Senator Harris for his daughter, 
■Miss Harris, and Major Eathbone, a son of the Senator's wife. 
The party reached the theatre at a little before nine o'clock, and 
as they passed to their private box the entire audience rose to 
their feet and enthusiastically cheered Mr. Lincoln and his 
party. 

On the morning of the 14th John Wilkes Booth, a disloyal 
■actor well known in Washington, began to perfect his plot 
for the assassination of Mr. Lincoln. He secured a fleet horse, 
which he secreted during the day, and at night rode to Ford's 
Theatre. Dismounting, he quietly worked his way through 
the crowd, and entered the box occupied by the Presidential 
party. Drawing a pistol, the assassin instantly aimed at the 
back of Mr. Lincoln's head, and fired the fatal bullet into his 
brain. In the great confusion that followed, Booth sprang 
upon the stage, and, shouting in a theatrical tone, " Sic semper 
tyrannis" he rushed with a brandished dagger through the 
stage entrance to his horse and fled from the city. 

Mr. Lincoln never moved after being shot, but passed into 
immediate unconsciousness, from which he rallied, but 
breathed his last at twenty-two minutes past seven the next 
morning, surrounded by his weeping family and friends, whom 
he had never recognized after the cruel lead had entered his 
brain. 

During the terrible scene in the theatre another part of the 
plan of assassination was being enacted in the city. Mr. 
Seward had but recently been thrown from his carriage, and 
was suffering in bed from a broken jaw, when a man named 
Powell (or Payne), another one of the conspirators, pushed his 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



299 



way into Mr. Seward's house, and after knocking down Mr. 
Frederick Seward, the Secretary's son, he sprang upon the bed 
of Mr. Seward and stabbed him three times in the throat. He 
was prevented by the nurse, a soldier, from killing the Secre- 
tary, and stabbing the nurse, Payne broke away and escaped 
after attempting the lives of other members of the household. 

General Grant, Vice-President Johnson and others were 
marked for assassination also, but providentially escaped. 

Language cannot express the distressing effect of this cruel 
assassination. The most profound demonstrations of grief 
were exhibited throughout the land. The entire country was 
a continuous drapery of the sombre emblems of mourning, and 
tolling bells and solemn funeral services everywhere marked 
the universal sorrow of the people. Men met each other with 
low and solemn voices and tearful eyes ; such a universal 
lamentation went up throughout the land as had never before 
been witnessed, and perhaps will never be again. Messages of 
condolence were sent from almost every nation on the earth, 
and all the world looked on the deed with horror. 

To the conquered South his death was a dire calamity when 
they so much needed his magnanimity, and those engaged in the 
rebellion who may have planned or connived at the assassina- 
tion regretted it when too late. 

On the following Wednesday the funeral service took place 
at the White House, which had been thrown open on the day 
previous for the vast crowd of mourners to view the embalmed 
body. The funeral services were very solemn and impressive, and 
the procession which accompanied the remains from the White 
House to the Capitol was the largest and most impressive ever 
seen in Washington. 

During these funeral services in the national Capitol, similar 
obsequies were performed and funeral services and orations de- 
livered throughout the entire country. 

After lying in state in the Capitol for a suitable time, the 
funeral train left Washington on the 21st of April for Spring- 
field, where Mr. Lincoln was to be buried. 

Never before had the country witnessed such a solemn and 
imposing sight as the immense funeral procession and crowd 



300 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



which gathered around the train and marched through every 
city and village, literally reaching from Washington to Spring- 
field. 

A touching incident of the funeral journey was the accom- 
panying of Mr. Lincoln's remains by the coffin and molder- 
ing body of his little Willie, whose dust was to be laid by his 
side in the cemetery of their old home. 

The remains of the martyred President were viewed by im- 
mense crowds in procession in every city on the route, and. 




THE TOMB OF LINCOLN. 



from twelve to twenty-four hours in the largest cities the 
ceaseless throngs day and night passed by the coffin to catch a 
single sight of the face of one of earth's greatest dead. 

At Chicago the people received his remains as their own, and 
the Chicago Tribune gave him this beautiful tribute: 

" He comes back to us, his work finished, the republic vindicated, its 
enemies overthrown, suing for peace . He left us. asking that the prayers 
of the people might be offered to Almighty God for wisdom and help to see 
the right path and pursue it. Those prayers were answered. He accom- 
plished his work, and now the prayers of the people ascend for help to bear 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



301 



the great affliction which has fallen upon them. Slain as no other man has 
teen slain, cut down while interposing his great charity and mercy between 
the wrath of the people and guilty traitors, the people of Chicago tenderly 
receive the sacred ashes with bowed heads and streaming eyes." 

At last the earthly journey was over and the mortal remains 
of Mr. Lincoln had reached Springfield to rest among his old 
friends and neighbors, where the last and most touching of all 
the funeral rites were performed. There, surrounded by his 
weeping neighbors, they laid him away to sleep after his work 
was done. 



ANDREW JOHNSON. 



There is scarcely another instance on record of the ruler of a 
great people having risen to that sublime height from so lowly an 
origin as did the subject of our biography. Poverty is no dis- 
grace, but a great inconvenience, and it was certainly no 
exception to the rule in the case of Andrew Johnson. 

He was bom at Raleigh, N. C , on the 29th of December, 
1808. His parencs occupied the humblest position of respecta- 
ble poverty, and their lives were so full of deprivation and 
hardship that there seemed to be no prospect ahead in life for 
their only child. To make the outlook more gloomy still for 
little Andrew, when he was five years old his father lost his 
life in saving the editor of the Raleigh Gazette from drowning. 
After this he ran the streets a ragged, barefoot boy, with only 
his poor, hard-working mother to care for him and provide his 
meagre food and shelter. At ten years of age it became neces- 
sary that he should prepare to earn his own living and help to 
support his mother. He was accordingly apprenticed to a tailor. 

As he had never at this age, nor in fact at any luture period 
of his life, attended school a single day, he could neither read 
nor write. But for all the lack of advantages, he had a yearn- 
ing after knowledge, and indicated a strong determination to 
pick up all the information possible. He was fortunate at this 
time in receiving the kind attentions of a gentleman in Raleigh, 
who, in accordance with the social customs of small places, was 
accustomed to spend much of his time in the tailor shop read- 
ing aloud while the men were at work. This visitor frequently 
read from a book of speeches, which deeply interested young 
J ohnson, and he resolved that he would learn to read. Slowly, 
by the assistance of the journeymen tailors, he learned the 
alphabet. At this stage of his education the gentleman kindly 



304 



LIVES OF OUE PRESIDENTS. 



made him a present of the book of speeches, and gave him Borne 
instruction in spelling, which was of great assistance to the 
boy. 

At last he could read, and new interests in life opened to the 
poor boy. Many a night he burned the midnight oil, or, more 
appropriately for the time and locality, the tallow candle, in his 
search for the wonderful things to be found in books. 




BIRTHPLACE OF ANDREW JOHNSON AT RALEIGH, N. O. 

In 1824 his apprenticeship expired, and he stepped out into the 
world with only his trade to rely upon. For the next two years 
he worked at Laurens Court House, S. C. , as a journeyman tailor, 
and it is said that during this time he came near losing his 
heart; but the poor, friendless stranger was not encouraged by 
the young lady or her parents . 

Returning to Raleigh, he soon decided upon moving to 
Tennessee, and, taking his mother with him, he settled in 
Greenville, where he readily found work at his trade which 



ANDREW JOHNSON. 



305 



comfortably supported himself and his mother. In a short 
time he married an estimable young lady of good education, 
who proved to him one of the noblest of helpmeets, for under 
the impulse of love she taught him how to write and also the 
science of arithmetic, beside other branches of a common edu- 
cation, until his advantages were equal to those of the average 
mechanic. But he did not pause here; ambition led him 
higher, and he soon became a leader of the workingmen. This 
resulted in his election to the office of alderman when he was 
only twenty years of age. 

Soon after this he joined a debating society connected with 
Greenville College, where he soon distinguished himself by his 
oratory until he was termed k ' the village Demosthenes." 

In 1830 Mr. Johnson was chosen Mayor of Greenville, winch 
prominent position he held for three terms. 

Almost his first step into political life was in espousing the 
principles of Andrew Jackson against nullification. 

The next honor bestowed upon Mr. Johnson was his election 
by the County Court as a trustee of Rhea Academy. In 1835 
he was elected to the State Legislature as a Democrat. Here 
he attracted attention to his sound principles by his opposition 
to a scheme of internal improvements which would have in- 
volved the State in debt to the amount of some four million 
dollars. This opposition caused his defeat at the next election 
in 1837, but in 1839 his prediction had come true, and the public 
improvement scheme had become so unpopular that Mr. 
Johnson was again returned to the Legislature. 

In 1840 Mr. Johnson canvassed East Tennessee in favor of Mr. 
Van Buren, the Democratic candidate, who was running for 
the Presidency in opposition to General Harrison. 

In 1841 he was elected to the State Senate to represent 
Hawkins and Green counties, in which position he so ably 
acquitted himself that in 1843 he was elected to Congress, 
where he continued to represent the district for ten years. 
His first action in the the Twenty -eighth Congress was to 
advocate the restoration of the fine imposed upon General 
Jackson in New Orleans for having placed that city under 
martial law in 1814. We next find him in the ranks of the 



806 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS 



friends of Texan annexation. On these questions he made able 
speeches, and distinguished himself to the extent that he was 
looked upon as one of the rising men of the country. At all 
times he was the friend and champion of labor. 

In 1853 Mr. Johnson was elected Governor of Tennessee. To 
this position be was again elected in 1855, his opponent being 
Meredith P. Gentry. 

It is well known that party politics ran hot in those days, 
and that often where arguments failed, ruffians were ready to 
threaten with the pistol and the bowie-knife. As an evidence 
of Mr. Johnson's remarkable courage, it is related that upon 
one occasion, when he w r as to speak on an exciting subject, 
threats were made that he should not leave the hall alive if he 
persisted in making a speech. Stepping upon the platform at 
the appointed time, Mr. Johnson drew his pistol, and laying it 
on the desk, said : 

" Fellow-citizens, it is proper when freemen assemble for the 
discussion of important public interests that everything should 
be done decently and in order. I have been informed that part 
of the business to be transacted on the present occasion is the 
assassination of the individual who now has the honor of ad- 
dressing you. I beg respectfully to propose that this be the 
first business in order. Therefore, if any man has come here 
to-night for the purpose indicated, I do not say to him, let him 
speak, but let him shoot.*' 

Holding his pistol in his hand, he then waited for the shoot- 
ing to begin. It had evidently been postpone d, and after a 
short pause he said: " Gentlemen, it appears that I have been 
misinformed. I will now proceed to address you on the subject 
that has called us together ;" and without further digression he 
proceeded with his speech. 

After his second term as Governor of the State expired, he 
was in 1857 elected to a seat in the United States Senate for the 
full term of six years. 

Almost his first act was to advocate the Homestead Bill, by 
which every citizen, the head of a family, could secure a home 
from the public lands. In Mr. Johnson's great speech on the 
bill, he took occasion to reply to remarks made by Mr. Ham- 



ANDREW JOHNSON. 



307 



mond, of South Carolina, in which he had denned the laboring 
classes as the mud-sills of society, and that the white laborers 
of the North, who worked for stipulated wages, were after all 
only slaves like the negroes of the South, " the difference only 
being," said Mr. Hammond, * 4 that our slaves are hired for life, 
yours are hired by the day." 

During Mr. Johnson's reply to this false theory, Mr. Hammond 
asked him to define a slave. Mr. Johnson replied : 

" What we understand to be a slave in the South is a man 
who is held during his natural lif e subject to and under the con- 
trol of a master. The necessities of life, and the various posi- 
tions in which a man may be placed, operated upon by avarice, 
gain or ambition, may cause him to labor ; but that does not 
make him a slave. If we were to go back and follow out this 
idea that every operative and laborer is a slave, we should find 
that we have had a great many distinguished slaves since the 
world commenced. Socrates, who first conceived the idea of 
the immortality of the soul, pagan as he was, labored with his 
own hands, yes, wielded the chisel and the mallet. Paul, the 
great expounder, was a tent-maker, and worked with his hands; 
was he a slave ?" 

Thus Mr. Johnson always stood upon the side of labor ; always 
espoused and defended the cause which to him indicated the 
wants and interests of the people. He felt that he was a legis- 
lator, not a politician, and believed it his duty to devote his whole 
time and talents to the public good. 

On the subject of slavery he recognized it as an existing insti- 
tution under the Constitution, and he believed that slavery had 
its foundation and would find its perpetuity alone in the Union. 
But while giving this support to the institution, his independent 
action on several occasions laid him under the charge of anti- 
slavery sentiments. Upon one occasion, when the State of Ten- 
nessee was to be reapportioned into Congressional Districts, 
Mr. Johnson introduced the following resolutions in the State 
Legislature : 

" Resolved, By the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, that the 
basis to be observed in laying the State off iuto Congressional districts shall 



308 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



be the voting population without any regard to the three-fifths of the negro 
population. 

" Besolved, That the one hundred and twenty thousand and eighty-three 
voters shall be divided by eleven, and that each eleventh of the one hundred 
and twenty thousand and eighty-three voters shall be entitled to one member 
in the Congress of the United States, or as near as may be practicable with- 
out a division of counties." 

To sum up Mr. J ohnson's position, he stood by slavery until it 
organized itself against the government, and then he stood up 
for the government, and gave his earnest support to the over- 
throw of the institution. 

Mr. Johnson had never been conspicuous for loud praise and 
oratorical effusion in reference to the glorious Union and the 
institutions of our forefathers and the proud bird of freedom. 
He had never believed the Union in danger, but from the day 
that secession flaunted its threats in the face of the government 
he sprang with patriotic zeal to the cause of the Union, and ar- 
rayed himself with defiance against the disunionists. He was 
violently opposed to secession, and insisted that the rights of the 
South could only be maintained in the Union. In his great 
speech of the 18th and 19th of December, 1860, he made use of 
the following unanswerable argument : 

"Now let me ask, Can any one believe that in the creation of this Govern- 
ment its founders intended that it should have the power to acquire territory 
and form it into States, and then permit them to go out of the Union ? Let 
us take a case. How long has it been since your armies were in Mexico, 
your brave men exposed to the diseases, the sufferings incident to a cam- 
paign of that kind; many of them falling at the point of the bayonet, con- 
signed to the long, narrow home, with no winding sheet but their blankets 
saturated with their blood ? What did Mexico cost you ? One hundred and 
twenty million dollars. What did you p^y for the country you acquired, 
besides ? Fifteen million dollars. Peace was made, territory was acquired, 
and in a few years California from that territory erected herself into a free 
and independent State. Under the provisions of the Constitution we admit- 
ted her as a member of this confederacy. And now, after having expended 
one hundred and twenty million dollars in the war; after having lost many 
of our bra ves't and most gallant men; after having paid fifteen million dol- 
lars to Mexico for the territory, and admitted it into tbe Union as a State, 
according to this modern doctrine, the National Government was just made 
to let them step in and then to let them step out ! Is it not absurd to say 
that California, on her own volition, without regard to the consideration paid 



ANDREW JOHNSON. 



309 



for her, without regard to the policy which dictated her acquisition by the 
United States, can walk out and bid defiance ? 

44 But we need not stop here. Let us go bo Texas. Texas was engaged in a 
revolution with Mexico. She succeeded in the assertion and establishment 
of her independence. She applied for admission into the family of States. 
After she was in she was oppressed by the debts of the war which had re- 
sulted in her separation from Mexico. She was harassed by Indians on 
her border. There was an extent of territory that lies north, if my memory 
serves me right, embracing what is now called the Territory of New Mexico. 
Texas had it not in her power to protect the citizens that were there. It was 
a dead limb, paralyzed, lifeless. 

4 k The Federal Government came along as a kind physician, saying, 'We 
will take this limb, vitalize it by giving protection to the people, and incor- 
porating it into a territorial government ; and in addition to that we will 
give you ten mill ion dollars and you may retain your own public lands.' 
And the other States were taxed to pay this ten million dollars. Now after 
all this is done is Texas to say, 4 I will walk out of this Union' ? Were there 
no other parties to this compact ? Did we take in California, did we take in 
Texas, just to benefit themselves ? 

" Again, take the case of Louisiana. What did we pay for her in 1803, and 
for what was she wanted ? Was it just to let Louisiana into the Union ? 
Was it just for the benefit of that particular locality ? Was not the mighty 
West looked to ? Was it not to secure the free navigation of the Mississippi 
River, the mouth of which was then in the possession of France ? Yes, the 
navigation of that river was wanted. Simply for Louisiana ? No, but for all the 
States. The United States paid fifteen million dollars, and France ceded 
the country to the United States. It remained in a territorial condition for a 
while, sustained and protected by the strong arm of the Federal Government. 
We acquired the territory and the navigation of the river, and the money 
was paid for the benefit of all the States and not of Louisiana exclusively. 

44 And now that this great valley is filled up, now that the navigation of 
the Mississippi is one hundred times more important than it was then ; now, 
after the United States have paid the money, have acquired the title to 
Louisiana, and have incorporated her into the confederacy, it is proposed 
that she should go out of the Union. 

"In 1815, when her shores were invaded; when her city was about to be 
sacked; when her booty and beauty were about to fall a prey to British ag- 
gression, the brave men of Tennessee and of Kentucky, and of the surround- 
ing States, rushed into her borders and upon her shores, and under the lead 
of our own gallant Jackson, drove the invading forces away. And now after 
all this, after the money has been paid, after the free navigation of that 
river has been obtiined, not for the benefit of Louisiana alone, but for her 
in common with all the States, Louisiana says to the other States: 

44 4 We will go out of this confederacy. We do not care if you did fight 
our battles; we do not care if you did acquire the free navigation of this 
river from France; we will go out and constitute ourselves an independent 
power, and bid defiance to the other States.' 



310 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



" It may be that at this moment there is not a citizen in the State of 
Louisiana who would think of obstructing the free navigation of the river. 
But are not nations controlled by their interests in varying circumstances ? 
And hereafter when a conflict of interest arises, Louisiana might feel disposed 
to tax our citizens going down there It is a power that I am not willing to 
concede to be exercised at the discretion of any authority outside of this 
Government. So sensitive have been the people of my State upon the free 
navigation of that river, that as far back as 1796— now sixty-four years ago— 
in their bill of rights, before they passed uuder the jurisdiction of the 
United States, they declared: 

4k ' That an equal participation of the free navigation of the Mississippi is 
one of the inherent rights of the citizens of this State. It cannot, therefore, 
be conceded to any prince, potentate, power, person or persons whatever.' 

" This shows the estimate that people fixed upon this stream sixty -four 
years ago; and now we are told that if Louisiana does go out, it is not her in- 
tention to tax the people above. "Who can tell what may be the intention of 
Louisiana hereafter ? Are we willing to place the rights, the travel, and the 
commerce of our citizens at the discretion of any power outside of this gov- 
ernment ? I will not. 

. " How long is it since Florida lay on our coasts an annoyance to us ? And 
now she has got feverish about being an independent and separate govern- 
ment, while she has not got as many qualified voters as there are in one 
Congressional district of any other State ? What condition did Florida oc- 
cupy in 1811 ? She was in possession of Spain. What did the United States 
think about having adjacent territory outside of their jurisdiction ? Spain 
was inimical to the United States; and, in view of the great principles of self- 
preservation, the Congress of the United States passed a resolution, declaring 
that if Spain attempted to transfer Florida into the hands of any other 
power, the United States would take possession of it. There was the territory 
lying upon our border, outside of the jurisdiction of the United States; and 
we declared by an act of Congress that no foreign power should possess it. 

" We went still further and appropriated one hundred thousand dollars, and 
authorized the President to eater and take possession of it. Afterward we 
negotiated with Spain, and gave six million dollars for the territory, and we 
established a territorial government for it. What next ? We undertook to 
drive out the Seminole Indians, and we had a war in which this government 
lost more than all the other wars it was engaged in ; and we paid the sum of 
twenty-five million dollars to get the Seminoles out of the swamps, so that 
the territory could be inhabited by white men. 

kt But now that the Territory is paid for, the Indians driven out, and twentv- 
five million dollars have been expended, they want no longer the protection 
of this Government, but will go out without consulting the other States ; with- 
out reference to the remaining parties to the compact. Where will she go ? 
Will she attach herself to Spain again ? Will she pass back under the juris- 
diction of the Seminoles ? After having been nurtured and protected and 
fostered by all these States, now, without regard to them, is she to be allowed 
at her own volition to withdraw from the Union ? I say that she has no con- 



ANDREW JOHNSON. 



811 



Stitutional right to do it. When she does it, it is an act of aggression. If she 
succeeds it will only be a successful revolution; if she does not succeed, she 
must take the penalties and terrors of the law. 

" I have referred to the acts of Congress for acquiring Florida as setting 
forth a principle. What is that principle ? It is that from the geographical 
relations of this Territory to the United States, we authorized the President 
to expend a hundred thousand dollars to get a foothold there, and especially 
to take possession of it if it were likely to pass to any foreign power." 

In another vigorous speech, one of his sentiments was as 
follows : 

"We may as well talk of things as they are; for if anything can be 
treason, is not levying war upon the Government treason ? Is not the 
attempt to take the property of the Government and to expel the soldiers 
therefrom, treason ? Is not attempting to resist the collection of the revenue, 
attempting to exclude the mails, and driving the Federal courts from the 
borders, treason ? What is it ? It is treason, and nothing but treason." 

Mr. Johnson also fortified his argument by quoting Madi- 
son, Webster, Jackson, Chief -Justice Marshall and other high 
authorities, to prove that a State could not constitutionally go 
out of the Union without the consent of all the States. He 
still further cited General Washington's action when President 
in putting down the rebellion in Pennsylvania in 1795 with 
fifteen thousand militia ; thus having as eminent an authority 
as Washington for the position that neither a State nor part of 
a State had a right to rebel against the Federal Government. 

Scarcely had these speeches been delivered in the United 
States Senate before South Carolina passed the ordinance of 
secession. This action was rapidly followed by the secession 
of the other rebellious States, aDd on the 4th of February, 
1861, a convention of the seceded States met at Montgomery, 
adopted a constitution, and elected Jefferson Davis President 
of the so-called Southern Confederacy. 

It was but natural that Johnson's devotion to the Union and 
his fierce denunciation of treason should draw upon him 
threats of vengeance from the secessionists, and attempts were 
made to lynch him on his journey home, and on his return to 
Tennessee he received insults and threats and was even burned 
in efiigy. 

The success of the Union armies in February, 1862, on the 



312 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers recovered possession of 
Nashville and the central portion of the State of Tennessee, and 
on the 4th of March Mr. Johnson was nominated by Mr. Lin- 
coln and confirmed by the Senate as Military Governor of 
Tennessee, and taking possession of the office at Nashville on 
the 12th of the month, he began at once to organize a provis- 
ional government for the State. 

His position was not an agreeable one. The rebel troops had 
but recently evacuated Nashville, and the Federal army had 
held possession but a few days. The citizens of the city and 
surrounding country in military occupation by the government 
were full of the most bitter hatred toward Governor Johnson. 
A conflict between him and the city officers at once began. He 
notified them to take the oath of allegiance to the United* 
States Government; the Mayor and City Council refused to do 
so, and Governor J ohnson issued a proclamation declaring their 
offices vacant, and appointed other persons to serve until a reg- 
ular election could be held. 

Governor Johnson's position was, during this time, a very 
critical one, for the rebel forces had but fallen sullenly back 
from the State, and were ready at the first opportunity to pounce 
down upon Nashville. The advance of the rebel General Bragg 
into Kentucky caused the Federal forces in Tennessee to be- 
come so depleted that Nashville was threatened by Forrest and 
Morgan, and nothing, perhaps, saved it but its hasty fortifica- 
tion by Governor Johnson. The Governor was not the kind of 
man to surrender, and the rebel generals did not care to under- 
take the capture of the city, and so they lost their last chance 
of ever reoccupying the capital of Tennessee. 

On the 9th of May, 1862, Governor Johnson found it neces- 
sary to issue the following proclamation : 

" Whereas, Certain persons, unfriendly and hostile to the Government of 
the United States, have banded themselves together and are now going at 
large through many of the counties of this State, arresting, maltreating and 
plundering Union citizens wherever found ; 

" Now, therefore, 1, Andrew Johnson, Governor of the State of Tennessee, 
by virtue of the power and authority in me vested, do hereby proclaim that 
in every instance in which a Union man is arrested and maltreated by the 
marauding bands aforesaid, five or more rebels from the most prominent in 



ANDREW JOHNSON. 



313 



the immediate neighborhood shall be arrested, imprisoned and otherwise 
dealt with as the nature of the case may require ; and, further, in all cases 
where the property of citizens loyal to the Government of the United States 
is taken or destroyed, full and ample remuneration shall be made to them 
out of the property of such rebels in the vicinity as have sympathized with, 
and given aid, comfort, information or encouragement to the parties com- 
mitting such depredations. 

" This order will be executed in letter and spirit. All citizens are hereby 
warned, under heavy penalties, from entertaining, receiving or encouraging 
such persons so banded together, or in anywise connected therewith." 

On the 4th of July, 1862, in a speech, Governor Johnson said 
in reference to slavery: 

"This is the people's government; they received it as a legacy from 
Heaven, and they must defend and preserve it if it is to be preserved at all. 
I am for this Government above all earthly possessions, and if it perish I do 
riot want to survive it. I am for it though slavery should be struck from 
existence, and Africa swept from the balance of the world. I believe, 
indeed, that the Union is the only protection of slavery— its sole guarantee; 
but if you persist in forcing this issue of slavery against the Government, I 
say in the face of Heaven, give me my government and let the negro 
go !" 

On the 13th of July, Forrest, with a rebel force of six 
thousand troops, captured Murfreesboro, and from there ad- 
vanced to Antioch, six miles from Nashville. Governor John- 
son declared that the first shot fired by the enemy at the capital 
would be the signal for the demolition of the houses of every 
prominent secessionist in town. This, it is said, induced the 
rebel sympathizers in Nashville to implore Forrest not to attempt 
to take the city, and as a result he withdrew, but remained with 
Morgan in the neighborhood. The danger of attack and capture 
of the city still continued, however, and, on the 6th of September, 
the Union element of Nashville was thrown into great con- 
sternation on account of the report that General Buell had de- 
termined upon the evacuation of Nashville. On hearing this 
report, Governor Johnson exclaimed: " What, evacuate Nash- 
ville, and abandon our Union friends to the mercy of these 
infernal hounds ! Why, there is not a secessionist in town 
who would not laugh to see every Union man shot down in 
cold blood by rebel soldiers if they come here ;" and he not only 
protested against the evacuation or surrendering without a 



314 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



fight, but declared that he would destroy the city rather than 
leave it to the enemy. The situation was critical indeed, but 
General Thomas fortunately arrived and took command, and 
sustained Governor Johnson's resolution that the city should 
neither be evacuated nor surrendered. Thus for a second 
time Governor Johnson saved Nashville by his matchless firm- 
ness and indomitable decision of character. 

In reference to Buell's timid and wavering conduct, the follow- 
ing amusing anecdote is related of Governor Johnson : There 
was at that time in Nashville a fighting Methodist preacher 
called Colonel Moody. During the great excitement incident 
upon Buell's expected evacuation of the city, Moody called upon 
Governor Johnson, who immediately met him, and with intense 
feeling said, ' k Moody, we are sold out ! Buell is a traitor ! He 
is going to evacuate the city, and in forty -eight hours we shall 
all be in the hands of the rebels." Then he commenced pacing 
the floor again, twisting his hands and chafing like a caged 
tiger. Suddenly he turned and said: " Moody, can you pray?" 
"That's my business, sir, as a minister of the Gospel," replied 
the Colonel. " Well, Moody, I wish you would pray," said John- 
son, and instantly both went down on their knees at opposite 
sides of the room. As the prayer became fervent Johnson be- 
gan to respond in true Methodist style. Presently he crawled 
over on his hands and knees to Moody's side, and put his arm 
over him, manifesting the deepest emotion. Closing the prayer 
with a hearty k4 Amen " from each, they arose. Johnson took a 
long breath and said, with emphasis: " Moody, I feel better. Will 
you stand by me ?" ' ' Certainly I will," answered the preacher. 
" Well, Moody, I can depend on you ; you are one in a hundred 
thousand !" Then, after pacing the floor again for a while, he 
turned and said : " Oh, Moody, I don't want you to think I have 
become a religious man because I asked you to pray. I am sorry 
to say it, but I am not, and have never pretended to be religious. I 
No one knows this better than you ; but, Moody, there is one 
thing about it, I do believe in Almighty God, and I believe in 
the Bible, and I say I'll be damned if Nashville shall be surren- 
dered !" And Nashville was not surrendered ! 

Jn October, Governor Johnson's family, who had been left be- 



ANDREW JOHNSON. 



315 



hind when he assumed control of affairs in Tennessee, reached 
Nashville after great difficulty in passing the rebel lines The 
rebel War Department at first sent a small escort with them, 
who were needed to protect the family from violence. At Mur- 
freesboro, Forrest refused to let them pass until peremptory or- 
ders from Eichmond allowed them to proceed. It was joy in 
that family when they were at last reunited in Nashville, and 
when the little woman who taught the tailor to write took her 
place as mistress of the governor's mansion. 

On the 5th of November the last attempt to capture Nash- 
ville was made by the rebel forces, which met with so decided 
a repulse that they fell back, and on the 14th, General Eose- 
crans arriving with heavy reinforcements, preparations were 
made to drive the rebel army out of Tennessee. On the 8th of 
December Governor Johnson issued a proclamation ordering 
elections to be held in certain districts to fill vacancies in Con- 
gress. 

On the 15th of December he assessed a tax upon the wealthy 
secessionists of Nashville for the support of helpless wives, 
children and widows, suffering from poverty and misfortune, 
whose only support had been forced into the rebel ranks. 

In addition to such efforts as this to relieve the sufferings of 
the citizens of Nashville, there were thousands of refugees 
coming into the lines in destitution who were actually com- 
pelled to look to the Government for their daily bread, and 
thus his duties were filled with constant care and anxiety and 
labor, and everything possible was done toward the resto 
ration of law and order and comfort in the State. 

When the National Union Convention met in Baltimore on 
the 6th of June, 1864, Governor Johnson had become so con- 
spicuous and popular from "his devotion to the cause of the 
Union that he was selected as the candidate for Vice-Presi- 
dent on the ticket with President Lincoln for re-election. The 
following extracts from his speech on accepting the nomination 
are a fair index of the sentiments of the man : 

" This aristocracy has been the bane of the slave States; nor has the North 
been wholly free from its curse. It is a class which I have always forced to 
respect me, for I have ever set it at defiance. The respect of the honest, in- 



316 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



telligent and industrious class I have endeavored to win by my conduct as a 
man. One of the chief elements of this rebellion is the opposition of the 
slave aristocracy to being: ruled by men who have risen from the ranks of 
the people. This aristocracy hated Mr. Lincoln, because he was of humble 
origin, a rail-splitter in early life. One of them, the private secretary of 
Howell Cobb, said to me one day: ' We people of the South will noc submit 
to be governed by a man who has come up from the ranks of the common 
people, as Abe Lincoln has.' Now it has just occurred to me, if this aris- 
tocracy is so violently opposed to being governed by Mr. Lincoln, what in the 
name of conscience will it do with Lincoln and Johnson ? I reject with scorn 
this whole idea of an arrogant aristocracy. 

'* There is an element in our midst who are for perpetuating the institution 
of slavery. Let me say to you Tennesseeans and men from the Northern 
States that slavery is dead. It was not murdered by me. I told you long 
ago what the result would be if you endeavored to go out of the Union to save 
slavery, and that the result would be bloodshed, rapine, devastated fields, 
plundered villages and cities; and therefore I urged you to remain in the 
Union. In trying to save slavery you killed it and lost your own freedom. 
Your slavery is dead, but I did not murder it. As Macbeth said to Banquo s 
bloody ghost : 

' Shake not thy gory locks at me, 
Thou canst not say I did it.' 

" Now, in regard to emancipation, I want to say to the blacks that liberty 
means liberty to work and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Idleness is not 
freedom. I desire that all men shall have a fair start and an equal chance 
in the race of life, and let him succeed who has the most merit. This, I 
think, is a principle of Heaven. I am for emancipation for two reasons, 
first because it is right in itself, and second, because in the emancipation of 
the slaves we break down an odious and dangerous aristocracy. I think we 
are freeing more whites than blacks in Tennessee. 

"I want to see slavery broken up, and when its barriers are thrown down, 
I want to see industrious, thrifty immigrants pouring in from all parts of 
the country. Come on ! We need your labor, your skill, your capital. We 
want your enterprise and invention, so that hereafter Tennessee may rank 
with New England in the arts and mechanics, and that when we visit the 
Patent Office at Washington, where the ingenious mechanics of the free 
States have placed their models, we need not blush that Tennessee can show 
nothing but a mouse-trap or a patent churn. Come on ! We greet you with 
a hearty welcome to the soil of Tennessee." 

In his letter accepting the nomination, he said : 

" At the beginning of this great struggle I entertained the same opinion of 
it I do now, and in my place in the Senate I denounced it as treason, worthy 
the punishment of death, and warned the Government and people of the 
impending danger. But my voice was not heard or counsel heeded until it 
was too late to avert the storm. It still continued to gather over us without 



ANDREW JOHNSON* 



31? 



molestation from the authorities at Washington, until at length it broke 
with all its fury upon the country. And now, if we would save the Govern- 
ment from being overwhelmed by it, we must meet it in the true spirit of 
patriotism and bring the traitors to the punishment due their crime, and by 
force of arms crush out and subdue the last vestige of rebel aurhority in 
every State. I felt then as now, that the destruction of the Government 
was deliberately determined upon by wicked and designing conspirators, 
whose lives and fortunes were pledged to carry it out, and that no compro- 
mise, short of an unconditional recognition of the independence of the 
Southern States, could have been or could now be proposed which they 
would accept. The clamor for * Southern rights,' as the rebel journals were 
pleased to designate their rallying cry, was not to secure their assumed 
rights in the Union and under the Constitution, but to disrupt the Govern- 
ment and establish an independent organization, based upon slavery, which 
they could at all times control. 

"In a letter dated May 1, 1833, to the Rev. A. J. Crawford, after demon- 
strating the heartless insincerity of the Southern nulliflers, General Jackson 
said : ' Therefore, the tariff was only a pretext, and disunion and a Southern 
Confederacy the real object. The next pretext will be the negro or slavery 
question. * 

" Time has fully verified this prediction, and we have now not only 4 the ne- 
gro or slavery question' as the pretext, but the real cause of the rebellion, and 
both must go down together. It is vain to attempt to reconstruct the Union 
with the distracting element of slavery in it. Experience has demonstrated 
its incompatibility with free and republican governments, and it would be 
unwise and unjust longer to continue it as one of the institutions of the 
country. While it remained subordinate to the Constitution and laws of the 
United States, I yielded to it my support ; but when it became rebellious and 
attempted to rise above the Government and control its action, I threw my 
humble influence against it. 

14 In accepting the nomination I might here close, but I cannot forego the 
opportunity of saying to my old friends of the Democratic party, proper, 
with whom I have so long and pleasantly been associated, that the hour has 
now come when that great party can justly vindicate its devotion to true 
democratic policy and measures of expediency. The war is a war of great 
principles. It involves the supremacy and life of the Government itself. If 
the rebellion triumphs, free government, North and South, fails. If, on the 
other hand, the Government is successful, as I do not doubt, its destiny is 
fixed, its basis permanent and enduring, and its career of honor and glory 
just begun. In a great contest like this for the existence of free government, 
the path of duty is patriotism and principle. Minor considerations and ques- 
tions of administrative policy should give way to the higher duty of first pre- 
serving the Government, and then there will be time enough to wrangle over 
the men and measures pertaining to its administration." 

On the 8th of November the Presidential election took place. 
Abraham Lincoln was re-elected President, and Andrew John- 



318 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



son Vice-President, and the public acts of these two noble and 
devoted men were indorsed by the people of the nation. At 
this time, the rebellion was rapidly drawing to a close, and on 
the 9th of April its final crash came, and Lee surrendered to 
General Grant. 

Scarcely had the first enthusiastic burst of rejoicing rolled 
over the land when, on the 14th of April, President Lincoln 
was assassinated, and amid the most terrible grief and lamen- 
tation throughout the country over the foul murder, Mr. John- 
son was officially notified of the death of Mr. Lincoln and the 
vacancy in the office, and at 10 o'clock on the morning after the 
assassination, he took the oath of office and became Presi- 
dent of the United States. The inauguration was followed by 
a short but most appropriate address. 

On the 17th of April the citizens of Illinois in Washington, 
before leaving to accompany the remains of Mr. Lincoln to their 
future resting place in Springfield, called upon President John- 
son to express their confidence in him, and their determination 
to support him. Governor O^lesby, as speaker for the party, 
delivered a most appropriate address, to which the President 
replied in some of the finest sentiments he had ever given to the 
public, closing as follows : 

" While we are appalled, overwhelmed, at the fall of one man in our midst 
by the hand of a traitor, shall we allow men, I care not by what weapons, to 
attempt the life of a State with impunity ? WhiJe we strain our minds to 
comprehend the enormity of this assassination, shall we allow the nation to 
be assassinated ? I speak in no spirit of unkindness. I do not harbor bitter 
or revengeful feelings toward any I know that men love to have their 
actions spoken of in connection with acts of mercy; and how easy it is to 
yield to this impulse. But we must not forget that what may be mercy to 
the individual is cruelty to the State. In tne exercise of mercy there should 
be no doubt left that this high prerogative is not used to relieve a few at the 
expense of the many. Be assured that I shall never foiget that I am not to 
consult my own feelings alone, but to give an account to the whole people. 

kt In regard to my future course I will now make no prof essions, no pledges. 
I have long labored for the amelioration and elevation of the great mass of 
mankind. I believe that government was made for man, not man for gov- 
ernment. This struggle of the people against the most gigantic rebellion the 
world ever saw, has demonstrated that the attaehmt nt of the people to their 
government is the strongest national defense human wisdom can devise. 
My past life, especially my course during the present unholy rebellion, is 



ANDREW JOHNSON. 



319 



before you. I have no principles to retract. I have no professions to offer. 
I shall not attempt to antic :pate the future. As events occur, and it becomes 
necessary for me to act, I shall dispose cf each as it arises, deferring any 
declaration or message until it can be written paragraph by paragraph in 
the light of events as they transpire." 

Mr. Johnson entered upon the duties of his office possessing 
the highest admiration and fullest confidence of the people. 
His constant, bold and eloquent expression of the sentiments that 
the rebellion and slavery should both be crushed out together, 
and that traitors should be punished, had naturally led the 
people both North and South to believe that his measures of 
reconstruction would be of the most rigid nature, and that in 
the restoration of the conquered States to representation in 
Congress and the control of their State legislation, he would 
insist upon unmistakable loyalty as an official test, and that the 
late prominent rebels should not be allowed to enter into the 
foundations of reconstruction. The recent assassination of the 
beloved Lincoln had still further embittered the feelings of the 
people against the rebels, and it was their desire to punish the 
leaders wherever possible by disqualification for representation 
of their States, and in treating them as a conquered people, to 
reconstruct Skate and national government over them from the 
loyal element. It was naturally believed that this would be 
the firm policy of President Johnson, but the country was 
greatly surprised, and all, except the conservative element, 
highly indignant to find him urging a system of reconstruction 
that many believed would again place the control of the Gov- 
ernment in the hands of unrepenting rebels on the floor of 
Congress. 

Upon the question as to whether the Government should 
extend its absolute protection and support to the loyal men of 
the South, without distinction of race, who during the rebellion 
had remained true to the national flag, President Johnson took 
the ground that the rebel States had never been out of the 
Union and could not constitutionally withdraw, and as States 
had never forfeited their political rights, and that in their 
State and national representation we could only lawfully exact 
of them an oath of allegiance to the Government of the United 



320 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



States. Upon this broad ground he held that they had a right 
to control their own State affairs and to send representatives 
to Congress, subject only to the constitutional right to reject 
or expel. 

Adhering to this position, President Johnson endeavored to 
urge his policy upon Congress and to oppose their precautionary 
measures of reconstruction. This created a strong opposition 
to the President in the party which elected him, and threw him 
into the arms of the party which had voted against him. 

The position taken by Mr. Johnson, that the rebellious States 
could not constitutionally sever their connection from the Union, 
answered very well for the war, but when it came to reconstruc- 
tion upon that principle, it became evident that it would loosen 
the military hold of the Government upon those States and their 
citizens, and not only leaye them to select their own national 
representatives, but it would also leave the loyal men of those 
States, who had opposed the rebellion, and also the colored race, 
to the tender mercies of the men so lately in arms against the 
Government. The question therefore created a great discussion 
throughout the country. The position was taken, in opposition 
to Mr. Johnson, that the rebellion was so large as to become an 
exception to the general rule applying to ordinary insurrections, 
and that as the so-called Southern Confederacy had formed a 
government With a constitution and President and Congress, 
and with ambassadors and a regularly organized army and 
navy, with recognized rights as belligerents, when vanquished 
the Government had the right of conquerors over them and 
could reconstruct them according to the laws of war. 

With this view of the subject Congress insisted that certain 
guarantees should be required of the rebellious States before 
they should be allowed to resume their former status in the 
Union. These guarantees were presented to them in the form 
of terms of reconstruction to be accepted and adopted as amend- 
ments to their State constitutions, before they could be admit- 
ted to the free and equal condition of States which had always 
remained loyal. 

In the light of history it must be admitted that the Govern- 
ment was magnanimous. 



ANDREW JOHNSON. 



321 



The breach between President Johnson and Congress on the 
question of reconstruction was also extended to other issues, 
and conflicts arose during the remainder of his term in his 
effort to thwart other measures to which he was opposed. To 
limit his power as much as possible, Congress passed the 
" Tenure of Office Act " in March, 1867. This act the President 
declared unconstitutional, and refused to be governed by it 
without submitting it to the decision of the Supreme Court as 
to its unconstitutionality. 

In this opposition to the " Tenure of Office Act" Mr. Johnson 
ordered the removal of Mr. Stanton from his position held 
under appointment from Mr. Lincoln, and appointed General 
Grant in his place. Upon the refusal of Secretary Stanton 
to vacate his position in the Cabinet, Mr. Johnson threatened to 
force him from the office. Congress assumed that the Presi- 
dent, by this opposition to a law of the land, had violated his 
oath of office, and was subject to impeachment. 

His trial began on the 4th of March and consumed nearly 
three months before the Senate, which was acting as the jury, 
had the case given them for their decision. The vote stood 
thirty-five for impeachment and nineteen for acquittal. A two- 
thirds vote being required for conviction, he was pronounced 
acquitted. 

The Presidential chair was saved to Mr. Johnson by one vote 
only, and he continued the remainder of his term shorn of his 
strength and without success in carrying out his policy. 

On the inauguration of President Grant, Mr. Johnson retired 
to his old home in Greenville, where he remained in seclusion 
until January, 1875, when he was chosen by the Legislature of 
Tennessee as United States Senator. He took his seat in the 
Senate at the special session on the 5th of March. 

During a visit to his daughter, who resided near Carter's Sta- 
tion, Tenn., in July, he was stricken with paralysis, and after a 
few days of insensibility, he died on the 31st of July, 1875, and 
went to his final rest in the little Greenville cemetery. 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



The greatest eulogy that can be offered to our republican 
form of government is the opportunity it offers for the devel- 
opment of genius from the ranks of the people. Many of our 
greatest statesmen and military heroes gave no indication in 
early life of the superior qualities they possessed until our 
republican institutions afforded them encouragement to develop 
the latent resources of their characters. 

Such was the character in early life of the subject of our biog- 
raphy. As a boy he gave no further indications of talent than 
would qualify him for clerking in a country store or similar 
modest employment. 

Ulysses S. Grant was born on the 27th of April, 1822, at Point 
Pleasant, Clermont County, Ohio, about twenty-five miles from 
Cincinnati. He is of good old Eevolutionary stock. His great- 
great-grandfather, Noah Grant, was captain of a company of 
colonial militia in the French and Indian war, and as one of 
the patriots fell bravely fighting at the battle of White Plains 
in 1776. 

The family originally came from Scotland, and Noah Grant 
settled in Connecticut. The father of Ulysses, Jesse Root Grant, 
was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. His father, 
Noah Grant, Jr. , who was born in Connecticut, began his mili- 
tary career as an officer at the battle of Lexington, and served 
with honor and devotion through the Revolutionary War. 
When a boy of sixteen, Jesse R. Grant was sent to Kentucky 
to learn the trade of a tanner, and at the expiration of his ap- 
prenticeship moved to Ohio, where he married Hannah Simp- 
son, and after many years of close application to his trade, se- 
cured a comfortable fortune, and turning the tannery over to 
his sons Orville and Simpson, he retired from business. 



324 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Ulysses was the eldest son, and had necessarily been called 
upon early to assist his father in the routine of work. He early 
developed a fancy for horses and a talent for breaking and 
driving them. It is related of him that when only seven years 
old he harnessed a three -year-old colt to a sled and hauled 
wood, and by the time he was ten years old he was frequently 




THE BIRTHPLACE OF GENERAL GRANT, 



sent by his father to Cincinnati with loads of wood and leather 
to deliver to customers. His skill as a rider became so remark- 
able that at twelve years of age he could stand upon the back 
of a horse going at full speed, supporting himself only by the 
bridle. At about the same age he succeeded in riding the trick 
pony at a circus, despite all efforts to dismount him, the ling- 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



325- 



master even unfairly bringing a monkey to his assistance, 
which fastened itself on the head and shoulders of Ulysses. 

At one time, when his father had undertaken to build the 
county jail, Ulysses came in one day with a load of logs and 
reported that there was no one to help him load. " Why, how 
did you load this morning ? " asked his father in surprise. " Oh, 
Dave and I loaded," he replied. Dave was one of the strong, 
heavy horses of the team. The surprising part of it was that 
the logs would have required fifteen or twenty men to lift 
any one of them, but the sturdy little boy had hitched the 
horse to the logs one at a time and dragged them across a fallen 
tree until one end was high enough to back the wagon under 
them ; then with the horse he pulled them on the wagon and 
drove home with his load. 

At about twelve years of age, while driving a team of horses 
before a light wagon, he was requested to take two young 
women to Georgetown, where he lived. There had been a 
heavy rain, and the creek which he had forded on the previous 
day had risen over its banks, and after driving a short distance 
into the water he found that the horses were swimming. The 
water filled the wagon box and the girls became very much 
frightened, but little Ulysses said : "Now don't be making a 
fuss there. Keep quiet and I'll take you through, safe ;" and 
holding the horses steadily with the reins, he swam them to 
the opposite bank. 

Ulysses disliked work in the tannery and declared that he 
would not be a tanner, bat wanted to be a farmer or merchant. 
His father suggested West Point, and the idea took finely with 
the boy, and, an appointment being secured, he entered the 
Military Academy at the age of seventeen. There happened to 
be another Grant in the same class, and the boys nicknamed 
U. S. Grant ' ' Uncle Sam " to distinguish him from the other 
Grant. 

At the academy Ulysses kept at about the middle of his class, 
and graduated from that position. In the dry studies he did 
not take much interest, but in all the military exercises, and 
especially in horsemanship, he excelled. 

On the 1st of July, 1843, Grant received the appointment of 



326 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Brevet Second Lieutenant in the United States Army, and was 
assigned to duty at Jefferson Barracks, in Missouri, where he re- 
mained until 1844, when he was sent with his regiment to Camp 
Salubrity, in Louisiana. The only notable thing he remembers 
doing at this camp was learning to smoke cigars. 

But the cloud of war was hovering over the locality of our 
young Lieutenant, and in 1845 he was sent to Corpus Christi 
to take command in the army under General Taylor, who was 
then holding himself in readiness for orders to pounce upon 
the Mexicans who were menacing the border. Soon after his 
arrival Grant was promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant, 
and on the 8th of May, 1846, he participated in the battle of Palo 
Alto, and the next day again in that of Resaca de la Palma. 
The first battle was a duel with cannon, lasting all day, in 
which Lieutenant Grant had but little opportunity to -display 
his bravery. But the next day, the Mexicans, whom our 
heavy cannon had forced to retire in the first battle, rallied in a 
thicket of small timber and again fought fiercely a battle of in- 
fantry in which Grant displayed his first qualities of skill and 
bravery. 

On the 23d of September he participated in the fierce battle of 
Monterey, in which General Taylor marched boldly upon the 
city garrisoned by ten thousand Mexican soldiers, and after 
two or three days' fierce fighting in the streets and at the forti- 
fications of the city, compelled it to surrender. 

This ended his campaign with General Taylor, and he was 
soon afterward sent with his regiment to join the army of 
General Scott, who was then preparing for an attack on Vera 
Cruz. This afforded Grant an opportunity of engaging in the 
siege and capture of that stronghold. His brave conduct here 
marked him for a reward, and he was appointed Regimental 
Quartermaster. Notwithstanding his new position, he engaged 
with his regiment in the battle of Cerro Gordo, also in those of 
San Antonio, Cherubusco and Molino del Rey, in which latter 
glorious engagement he so distinguished himself that he was 
promoted to the brevet rank of First Lieutenant. At the storm- 
ing of Chepultepec he added to his laurels such a record for 
bravery that he was breveted a Captain. 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



327 



With the capture of the City of Mexico, Grant had engaged 
in every battle of the war except Buena Yista. 

His military career in Mexico was now at an end, and he 
returned with his regiment to New York City, whence he was 
sent to Sackett's Harbor. Here, obtaining a short leave of 
absence, he married Miss Julia T. Dent, the daughter of a St. 
Louis merchant. 

In 1 849 he went with his regiment to Fort Brady, where he 
remained for two years. In 1852 the regiment was sent to the 
Pacific coast, and one battalion, including Grant's company, 
was ordered to Columbia Barracks, in Oregon. Grant, however, 
soon became so tired of the life in that wild, remote locality, 
that he resigned his commission and returned to his wife and 
civilization in St. Louis. 

Being now thrown on his own resources, he followed one of 
his boyish inclinations, and settled on a farm which Mrs. 
Grant's father had given her. He began by hewing logs for 
his dwelling, and built the house himself. The farm was 
small, so it required his hardest labor to secure from it a sup- 
port for his family. In the winter he and his son hauled wood 
to St. Louis, each driving a team. 

Four years of farming found Grant discouraged with results, 
and moving to St. Louis, he opened a real estate office, but gave 
it up for a position in the Custom House, which he soon lost by 
the death of the Collector. In 1860 he moved to Galena, and en- 
gaged with his brother in the leather business. Scarcely was 
he settled in his new avocation when the attack upon Fort 
Sumter aroused his military enthusiasm, and as soon as the call 
was made for volunteers, he took command of a company in 
Galena, and went with it to Springfield to report to the Gov- 
ernor for duty. Here his fifteen years' service in the regular 
army made him so familiar with all the details of military mat- 
ters that his merits were soon discovered by the Governor, who 
placed him in charge of the Twenty-first Illinois Regiment, and, 
greatly to his surprise, sent him the commission of Colonel. His 
regiment was soon after ordered to guard the line of the Han- 
nibal and St. Joseph Railroad. From this point the regiment 
went to Ironton Mo,, and while passing through St. Louis 



328 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Colonel Grant received a commission promoting him to Briga- 
dier-General, and assigned him to the command of Southeastern 
Missouri, Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky and Tennes- 
see. Reporting to General Fremont at St. Louis, he was at once 
instructed to make his headquarters at Cairo, 111., to which place 
he repaired on the 1st of September. 

Grasping the situation with his fine military mind, he real- 
ized that Paducah and Smithland, at the mouths of the Ten- 
nessee and Cumberland rivers, were two strategic points which 
should not be left to fall into the hands of the rebels, who were 
concentrating their forces for the occupation of Kentucky. To 
secure these points, General Grant, on the night of the 5th of 
September, embarked bis troops on transports under convoy of 
two gunboats, and on the morning of the 6th arrived at Padu- 
cah and took possession. Grant returned to Cairo the same 
day ; General C. F. Smith was placed in command of Paducah, 
and troops were sent to take possession of Smithland and for- 
tify it sufficiently to hold the mouth of the Cumberland River. 

General Grant now devoted his time to fortifying Cairo and 
organizing and drilling the raw troops who were coming in 
every day. There was such a lack of efficient officers that 
General Grant had to perform most of the work himself, and 
teach the officers how to make out their different reports and 
requisitions. 

During this time General Grant had gathered a force of 
20,000 troops at Cairo. But the rebels, far from being idle, 
had taken possession of Columbus. Ky., on the bank of the 
Mississippi River, about twenty miles below Cairo, and were 
rapidly fortifying its heights so as to command the river. To 
still further secure their position, they had formed a camp at 
Belmont, oa the Missouri shore, under the protection of the 
guns at Columbus. From this camp the rebels intended to 
make raids in Missouri. The position at Columbus was a strong 
one, and if allowed to be held would be a constant menace to 
both Paducah and Cairo, besides barring the navigation of the 
Mississippi. 

General Grant did not feel that his force was strong enough 
to capture Columbus, but he was quick to see that he could 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



329 



inflict a severe punishment on the rebels at Belmont, and on 
the night of the 6th of November he, with about three thousand 
men, embarked on transports, convoyed by two gunboats, and 
landed early next morning above Columbus, just out of range 
of the enemy's guns, and quickly and quietly marching through 
the forest, made an impetuous charge upon the camp at Bel- 
mont, and swept the rebels out of their positions, capturing 
their camp, artillery and many prisoners. The repulse of the 
rebels could be seen from Columbus, and General Polk began 
immediately throwing reinforcements across the river. This 
afforded Pillow an opportunity to reorganize his command, and 
preparations were quickly made to assail the Union forces in 
the rear. But Grant was quick to discover the movement, and 
seeing transports crossing from Columbus with reinforcements, 
he hastily burned the rebel camp and began his retreat. Almost 
immediately he discovered a rebel force between him and his 
transports, and he ordered a charge which swept the enemy 
from before him, and gaining the cover of the gunboats, he 
embarked and returned to Cairo. 

This battle opened the campaign in that military division, and 
the rebels began at once to strengthen their positions for active 
work. They at once reinforced Columbus with a large garri- 
son and heavy guns, and fortified Bowling Green. They also 
constructed Fort Henry, on the Tennessee, and Fort Donelson, 
on the Cumberland, about twelve miles distant from each 
other. These forts were made very strong, guns of the heaviest 
calibre were mounted, and the rebels believed they would be 
able to control the two rivers and prevent the ascent of the 
Union fleet and forces. The nearness of the forts to each 
other would enable one to reinforce the other, and the rebels 
did not believe that they could be taken. 

General Grant quickly realized the great importance of cap- 
turing both these forts, and secured from General Halleck the 
order for the movement. Fort Henry was the first point of 
operation, and on the 2d of February General Grant started 
upon the expedition with seventeen thousand men on trans- 
ports, accompanied by seven iron-clad gunboats, commanded 
by Commodore Foote and, landing the troops a few miles be- 



380 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



low Fort Henry for an attack upon the rear, the gunboats 
steamed up within short range and opened a terrific fire upon 
the fort. The fire was vigorously returned by the fort, and 
Genera] Tilghrnan, who was in command, stood bravely by his 
artillerists, directing their fire. But the iron-clads had the ad- 
vantage of the heaviest guns, and completely silenced the fort 
in an hour and a half, and compelled its surrender. Owing to 
high water and almost impassable roads, Grant's main army did 
not reach the fort in time to strike it in the rear, as was in- 
tended, nor to intercept the main body of the garrison, which 
escaped to Fort Donelson. 

On the 12th of February General Grant made the advance on 
Fort Donelson. The rebels in the meantime had been making 
the greatest preparation for the impending struggle, and had not 
only largely increased their force, but had greatly strengthened 
the fort, which naturally was a strong position, being built on 
a ledge of rocks which overlooked the river for miles. It pos- 
sessed water batteries, mounting columbiads and similar heavy 
guns. There were ramparts, re-entrants, curtains, salients, 
bastions and rifle-pits, and the approaches on both the land and 
the water side were made practically impassable by heavy abatis. 

On the afternoon of the 12th there were slight skirmishes be- 
tween the rebels on the outer lines and McClernand's and Smith's 
commands, but General Grant was wisely investing the fort, 
and holding back from an engagement until the gunboats re- 
turned with the transports and reinforcements, as at that time 
the rebel force far exceeded that of the Union army. 

On the night of the 13th Commodore Foote arrived, bringing 
the much-wished-for reinforcements. The next day the newly 
arrived troops were all assigned to their positions, and all 
things being in readiness, the fleet of gunboats steamed up at 
about 3 p. M. within short range of the fort and opened fire. 
If Commodore Foote anticipated as easy work as he had expe- 
rienced at Fort Henry, he was doomed to disappointment. The 
relative positions of the two forts were very different. Fort 
Henry was on low ground, with a river bank overflowing, while 
Fort Donelson looked down on the gunboats from an elevation 
of thirty or forty feet, and could discharge her solid shot with 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



331 



terrific effect on the gunboats. Such was the disadvantage that 
at the end of an hour and a half the gunboats had been so 
roughly handled as to be compelled to draw off. This led the 
rebels to believe that they had won a victory by driving 
off the gunboats, but, as Colonel Oglesby said : ' ( Grant had 
gone there to take that fort, and he would stay until he 
did it ;" and as the rebels saw the Union forces growing 
in numbers every day the siege continued, they began 
to lose hope, and Floyd, on a consultation with his 
generals, decided that they must, if possible, cut their way out 
and escape. This plan, unfortunately for the Union forces, was 
put into execution while General Grant was absent on the flag- 
ship, having been sent for by Commodore Foote. The attack 
naturally fell on the weakest part of the line, and the head of 
the army not being on the field to direct the movement of the 
forces, one brigade after another was forced back, and Pillow 
was so sure of victory that he sent word to Johnston at Nash- 
ville that he had won the day. But he had ' ' reckoned without 
his host." Grant returned, and for the first time became aware 
of the situation. He was surprised at the attack, and could not 
understand it until he saw that the knapsacks of the rebels 
were packed and their haversacks were filled with rations. At 
once he saw that they were fighting their way out, and as soon 
as he communicated this to the officers and soldiers, it revived 
their courage, and General Grant at once, by a masterly Na- 
poleonic move, reformed the lines, and charging the 
enemy, pushed them back into their lines, and when 
night closed the engagement, it found the Union 
forces victorious. Floyd now saw that there would be no 
alternative but to surrender, and resigning the command to 
Pillow, who in turn resigned to Buckner, these two Generals 
stole away in the night, while Forrest, with more valor, fought 
his way out with his cavalry and escaped. There being no 
others desirous of taking the risk of fighting their way out, 
Buckner then sent a flag of truce to General Grant, asking for 
an armistice and commissioners to arrange for capitulation. 
To this Grant replied : ' ' No terms other than an unconditional 
and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move 



332 



LIVES OF OUB PRESIDENTS. 



immediately upon your works !" Buckner realized at once that 
delay would invoke a terrific slaughter of rebels, and he com- 
plied at once with the demand for 4 4 unconditional surrender," 
and Fort Donelson, with 14,623 men, 17 heavy siege guns, 48 
pieces of field artillery, 20,000 stand of small ami*, 3,000 horses, 
besides a large quantity of military stores, fell into the hands 
of Grant. 

This was the most signal victory that had been secured, and 
it created the most universal joy among all Union people, while 
it had a depressing effect upon the rebels. Grant's name was 
heralded all over the land, and the greatest gratitude and 
praise were bestowed upon him. President Lincoln, quick to 
recognize the sterling qualities of the hitherto unknown man, 
rewarded him at once with a commission of Major-General. 

The fall of Fort Donelson inflicted serious damage upon the 
rebel cause far beyond the limits of that fortification. It 
threw Southern Kentucky and a considerable portion of Middle 
Tennessee into possession of the Federal forces, and, together 
with Fort Henry, gave them the navigation of the Cumberland 
and Tennessee Rivers. It also forced the rebels to abandon Co- 
lumbus, Bowling Green and Nashville, and allow large quanti- 
ties of military stores to fall into our hands. It reached till 
further in its effects — it inspired hope and confidence in the 
Union soldiers and aroused a fear in the breasts of the rebels 
that they were not invincible after all. 

After this signal defeat, General Johnston, the rebel com- 
mander, concentrated his scattered forces and established a new 
defensive line at Island No. 10, in the Mississippi, and at Mur- 
freesboro, but being soon compelled to evacuate Island No. 10, 
they changed their front to Corinth and Chattanooga. 

Grant's successful operations at this time were delayed and 
his plans changed by Halleck, his superior in rank and his 
inferior in everything pertaining to military matters. In his 
envy of Grant's success and growing lame he assigned him to 
new districts, and gave the command of important expeditions 
to other officers, until Grant, feeling the injustice so keenly, 
insisted upon being relieved from further duty in the depart- 
ment until he could appeal to higher authority. This resulted 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



333 



in a slight relaxation of the restraint put upon Grant, and 
with his new command he again prepared to move for active 
service. 

In the meantime the rebels had been making themselves 
strong by concentration, compelling all small Union commands 
in their vicinity to fall back. Indications pointed to a coming 
engagement on the line of the Tennessee, necessary to break 
the hold the rebels were securing in that quarter. On the 17th 
of March, 1862, General Grant began to concentrate his troops 
at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee, where he was to await 
the arrival of General Buell from Nashville, with forty thous- 
and troops. At this time Grant had but thirty-five thousand 
men, while the rebels had a force of seventy thousand concen- 
trated at Corinth, only twenty miles away. GeneralJohnston, 
who was in command at Corinth, realized the necessity of 
crushing Grant before Buell arrived, and at daylight on the 
6th of April, the entire rebel force, after a quick march from 
Corinth, fell upon Grant's army in overwhelming numbers, and 
during the entire day one of the most bloody battles of the war 
was fought. The carnage was fearful, and the Union army 
was in the greatest danger of being swept into hopeless ruin. 
They were driven back to the river in the greatest disorder, and 
nothing but the gunboats saved them from an unconditional 
surrender. Bravery could avail but little against the over- 
whelming force of the rebels. ■ This was the desperate condition 
of Grant's army when night closed the contest. The rebels 
were confident of a complete victory the next morning. 

During the afternoon Buell arrived in advance of his troops, 
and anxiously inquired of Grant what preparation he had made 
for a retreat across the river. " Why," replied Grant, " I have 
not despaired of whipping them yet." " But," continued Buell, 
" you haven't steamboats enough to carry away ten thousand 
men." " Well," replied Grant, " there won't be more than that 
many left when I get ready to go / " 

In the night 20,000 of Buell's troops arrived in advance of the 
others and crossed the river, where they were placed in position 
for an early resumption of hostilities the next morning. The 
arrival of fresh troops had so inspired the Union army with 



334 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



confidence that at daylight they fell upon the rebels in a charge 
so fierce and impetuous that the latter were filled with astonish- 
ment. Grant knew his strength and advantage and he swept 
everything before him. All day the conflict raged with unpre- 
cedented fury, and at night the defeated rebels retreated to 
Corinth, leaving nearly 20,000 men dead on the field. Thus 
ended the battle of Shiloh on the first day and that of Pittsburg 
Landing on the second, in which Grant wrested a grand victory 
out of defeat. 

On the 9th of April, Major-General Halleck arrived and as- 
sumed command. With the greatest caution he advanced on 
Corinth, intrenching his position at almost every step. In the 
entire siege, which was contemptible in a military point of view, 
General Grant was entirely ignored by Halleck and was practi- 
cally relieved from command. The result of this slow and 
cautious advance was the escape of the rebels from Corinth 
with all their materials of war, to the great surprise of Halleck, 
who was doubtless considering his own chances of escape should 
he be attacked by the rebels. This fortunately ended his 
personal supervision of military movements in the West, for he 
was soon after called to Washington and Grant was again placed 
in command of the Army of the Tennessee. He soon after 
placed Rosecrans in command of Corinth and improved the 
fortifications by shortening the lines. His military foresight 
and skill were soon evident, for the rebels, under Van Dorn, 
advanced upon Corinth and made a vigorous attack, which 
Rosecrans repulsed ; and after a fierce battle the rebels re- 
treated, pursued by the Union forces, leaving on the field nearly 
1,500 officers and men and more than 5,000 wounded, besides 
losing over 2,000 prisoners. 

The necessity for opening the Mississippi River was becoming 
more evident every day, and when General Grant requested 
permission of Halleck to make an attack upon Vicksburg, he 
found the General-in-Chief favorable to his plan, and he at once 
began to concentrate troops for the great campaign. His plan 
was to have the fleet co-operate with the land forces, and after 
a number of small battles in Mississippi, in which divisions of 
the army were engaged, General Grant pushed on with the 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



335 



entire force toward Vicksburg as rapidly as possible, issuing 
orders for the army to subsist from the country. 

The siege of Vicksburg is such a history in itself that only 
general details can be given. As a natural military stronghold 
it could scarcely be surpassed by any other position occupied 
by the rebels. This city is located on a bluff, two hundred and 
fifty feet above low water mark, while innumerable swamps 
and bayous extend in all directions in the rear through the 
almost impenetrable forests, and never perhaps in the history 
of any siege since the world began were there so many natural 
obstacles to its progress. Every means was devised that human 
ingenuity could plan. Canals, passes, bayous and every other 
species of water-course were tried in the endeavor to pass Vicks- 
burg with the fleet and army to a point of operation below, but 
these plans all failed. The forests, bayous and swamps were 
too much for human ingenuity, and giving up all these plans, 
General Grant concentrated the army in front of Vicks- 
burg, and decided to send the iron-clads and transports 
down the Mississippi River under the fire of the Vicks- 
burg batteries, and on the 16th of April, at night, the 
fleet, under Admiral Porter, steamed past Vicksburg, under 
a terrific fire from the heaviest guns, to which all the 
gunboats replied with fearful energy while they floated 
with the current. After the fleet and army had reached a point 
below Vicksburg, General Grant worked incessantly to prepare 
for the grand assault which he knew must be made. Immedi- 
ately he began a series of fierce assaults from day to day on the 
rebel lines, while all the operations of the siege were pushed 
vigorously forward. Nearer and nearer the works approached 
Vicksburg, while mines were sunk, and sharpshooters from 
towers and tree-tops were constantly picking off the rebel gun- 
ners. On the 26th of June, a great mine, dug under one of the 
strongest batteries of the enemy, was exploded, with the most 
tremendous force, shaking the very city to its foundations, and 
strewing the air with dirt, timbers and cannon, and the mangled 
bodies of the rebels. This explosion was followed by an assault 
on the enemies' line of defense, which had been broken by the 
explosion, but it accomplished nothing. 



886 



LIVES OF OTJft PRESIDENTS- 



At last Grant's works, mounted by heavy guns, were all 
completed, and he directed that the general attack be made on 
the morning of the 5th of July. Pemberton, the rebel com- 
mander at Yicksburg, realizing the terrific slaughter of his 
men that would result from the assault, sent out a flag of truce 
on the 3d for the appointment of commissioners to arrange for 
the capitulation. But Grant demanded unconditional surren- 
der, although offering to meet Pemberton to arrange details. 
The meeting took place, and Pemberton accepted the terms, 
which allowed the officers and soldiers to be liberated on their 
paroles, taking with them their clothing, rations, cooking 
utensils and a limited number of wagons. 

These terms were accepted, and on the 4th of July, and by 
three o'clock in the afternoon, Yicksburg was in our hands, 
with all its siege guns, small arms and military stores. The 
force surrendered amounted to 27,000 men, including 6,000 
wounded and sick in hospital. 

This grand victory of General Grant's was one of the most 
important of the war, and resulted in opening the Mississippi 
from the Ohio to the Gulf. 

General Sherman had, in the meantime, been sent with a 
force to attack Johnston, and succeeded in driving him from 
Jackson to Meridian. 

On the 6th of June a detachment of colored troops, aided by 
the gunboats, defeated McCulloch's command of 3,000 rebels at 
Milliken's Bend. 

A rebel force of 8,000 men made an attack upon the Union 
garrison at Helena on the 4th of July, but General Prentiss, 
assisted by the gunboats, made such a gallant resistance that 
the rebels were signally defeated and driven off. 

As soon as the fall of Vicksburg relieved the necessity of the 
large force concentrated there, General Grant sent reinforce- 
ments to Banks, who was besieging Port Hudson, and on the 
8th of July that rebel stronghold surrendered with 10,000 pris- 
oners and 50 guns. 

Thus were a series of smaller victories added to the brilliant 
conquest of Yicksburg, to the great discomfiture of the rebels 
and the depression of their cause. This successful campaign 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



337 



raised the fame of Grant above all the envious falsehoods and 
villainous influences that had been brought to bear against 
him. He had proven himself the military superior not only of 
the rebel generals, but also of his enemies among the officers of 
our own army, and yet without pride or retaliation he pushed 
ahead and gave his noble services to the cause he so dearly 
loved. 

After the fall of Vicksburg, President Lincoln and the Secre- 
tary of War so fully appreciated the ability of Grant that he 
was made Major-General in the regular army, which outranks 
a Major-General of volunteers. 

In September General Grant was thrown from his horse in 
New Orleans, and for nearly three weeks was confined to his bed. 
During this time the Union forces, under Eosecrans, received 
the well-remembered defeat at Chickamauga. Bragg's forces 
having been weakened by detachments being sent to other 
points, and Eosecrans feeling sure of success, pressed on after 
Bragg, who retreated through Chattanooga until he received 
the reinforcements of Buckner's, Longstreet's and Polk's com- 
mands. Then, with an army of eighty thousand men, he 
turned upon Eosecrans and almost crushed his army at Chick- 
amauga, inflicting a loss of sixteen thousand men, killed, 
wounded and missing, and besieging Eosecrans in Chattanooga, 
where he was in the most critical situation. 

General Grant, as soon as he learned of the disaster at Chicka- 
mauga and the dangerous position of Eosecrans, relieved 
him of the command and General Thomas was appointed in 
his place, with instructions telegraphed to hold Chattanooga 
at all hazards until reinforcements could reach him. The 
reply of Thomas was brief and business-like: " We'll hold the 
town till we starve." General Grant immediately set out for 
Chattanooga, and reached it on the 23d of October, when he 
commenced his plans of operation at once by opening a line of 
communication for reinforcements and supplies. General Sher- 
man was ordered forward with all possible speed, and by a 
forced march, under the greatest difficulties of bad roads and 
flooded streams, that faithful warrior hurried forward his 
troops to reinforce Chattanooga. 



338 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



As soon as Sherman arrived General Grant was ready for 
offensive operations. He sent General Sherman, on the night 
of the 23d of November, across the Tennessee Eiver to hold a 
position ready for attack npon Missionary Ridge. On the 24th 
General Hooker stormed Lookout Mountain and swept the 
rebels in the greatest disorder from their position. The next 
day the entire army charged the rebels in one of the most ter- 
rific battles of the war, and when night came the rebels had 
been swept from every point, and in a wild rout they were flee- 
ing toward Atlanta with General Grant in pursuit, and the 
road strewn with everything that they could cast away in their 
wild rush for life and liberty. 

Thus again did General Grant turn into a glorious victory the 
impending defeat and surrender which had hung over the 
besieged army at Chattanooga. The successful management 
of this battle is one of the most remarkable events in history, 
and its result was to drive back the rebels from Kentucky and 
Tennessee and prepare the Union army for finally breaking the 
back of the rebellion in Georgia. 

The news of the great victory created the wildest enthusiasm 
for General Grant throughout the country, and on the 4th of 
February, 1864, a bill was passed in Congress reviving the grade 
of Lieutenant-General in the army, and calling General Grant 
to the command of all the armies of the United States. This 
at once relieved him from subjection to inefficient superiors 
and placed him in supreme command, subject only to the Pres- 
ident. The bill was approved by Mr. Lincoln on the 1st of 
March, and on the 9th General Grant received his commis- 
sion. 

General Grant at once decided to end the Rebellion on the 
banks of the Potomac, and began reorganizing the army and 
concentrating a great force in the East, knowing that the rebels 
would be compelled to withdraw or decrease their troops at all 
other points to defend Richmond and support Lee, thus leaving 
the West and South at the mercy of Sherman, Thomas, McPher- 
son and similar able and faithful generals. 

As soon as General Grant began to develop his plans all roads 
seemed to lead to the Potomac, and from every direction the 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



339 



martial tread of armies was heard. After locating and instruct- 
ing his generals of the Eastern army, he gave to General Sher- 
man a grand expedition, which only Grant and Sherman 
were capable of accomplishing, that of cutting the Confeder- 
acy in two, and breaking the back of the Rebellion by that 
daring march from Atlanta to the sea. 

For the first time in the history of the war the control of 
the army and its military movements were in the hands of the 
two military giants of the country, and the result was soon to 
be what might have taken place two years earlier under their 
control — the end of the war. Lee had defeated every other 
General of the Army of the Potomac who had confronted him, 
and General Grant knew that the war would only end with the 
overthrow of the military leader of the Rebellion. The time had 
come for his defeat, and no one knew it so well as Grant. The 
following ideas, expressed in one of his reports as Lieuten- 
ant-General, are worthy of the genius of Napoleon : 

" From an early period in the Rebellion I had been impressed with the 
idea that active and continuous operations of all the troops that could be 
brought into the field, regardless of season and weather, were necessary to 
a speedy termination of the war. The resources of the enemy and his 
numerical strength were very inferior to ours ; but, as an offset to this, we 
had a vast territory, with a population hostile to the Government, to gar- 
rison, and long lines of river and railroad communications to protect, to 
enable us to supply the operating armies. 

41 The armies in the East and West acted independently and without con- 
cert — like a balky team, no two ever pulling together — enabling the enemy to 
use to great advantage his interior lines of communication for transporting 
troops from east to west, reinforcing the army most vigorously pressed and 
to furlough large numbers during seasons of inactivity on our part, to go to 
their homes and do the work of providing for the support of their armies. 
It was a question whether our numerical strength and resources were not 
more than balanced by these disadvantages and the enemy's superior posi- 
tion. 

" From the first I was firm in the conviction that no peace could be had 
that could be stable and conducive to the happiness of the people both North 
and South until the military power of the rebellion was entirely broken up. 

" I therefore determined, first, to use the greatest number of troops prac- 
ticable against the armed force of the enemy, preventing him from using 
the same force at different seasons against first one and then another of our 
armies, and the possibility of repose for refitting and producing necessary 
supplies for carrying on resistance ; secondly, to hammer continuously against 



340 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



the armed force of the enemy and his resources, until, by mere attrition, if 
in no other way, there should be nothing left to him but an equal submission 
with the loyal sections of our common country to the Constitution and laws 
of the land. 

" These views have been kept constantly in mind, and orders given and 
campaigns made to carry them out. Whether they might have been better 
in conception and execution is for the people, who mourn the loss of friends 
fallen, and who have to pay the pecuniary cost, to say. All that I can say is 
that what I have done has been done conscientiously, to the best of my 
ability and in what I conceived to be for the best interests of the whole 
country." 

Belying implicitly on Sherman's ability to sweep irresistibly 
through Georgia to Savannah and thence northward, destroy- 
ing railroads, devastating the country, capturing Charleston, 
Columbia and other rebel strongholds, General Grant began his 
preparations. 

On the 3d of May, 1864, at midnight, General Grant moved 
his whole army and crossed the Rapidan before daylight. Push- 
ing on toward Spottsylvania his army swept through the 
Wilderness, and he disposed his troops in position to prevent 
every possible surprise. 

Lee, in his perfect confidence secured by all previous experi- 
ence with the Army of the Potomac, determined to fall upon 
Grant by surprise, and, by cutting his army in two, sweep him 
from the field. On the mornmg of the 5th Lee suddenly ap- 
peared, rushing impetuously upon the centre of Grant's army, 
with his troops massed and bent upon dividing it and sweeping 
it in hopeless defeat across the Rapidan. But for once Lee had 
met his superior, and although he had forced the fight upon his 
own familiar ground, with his own plan and at his chosen time, 
he found himself at the close of the first day's terrific battle 
pressed back upon the field and six thousand of his men welter- 
ing in their blood. He realized that he had a desperate under- 
taking befoie him, and doubtless " bitterly thought of the mor- 
row " as he waited for daylight to renew the carnage. The sec- 
ond day dawned, and fiercely through all its long hours the 
battle raged at every point, with each army pushing back di- 
visions of the other and victory refusing to perch upon either 
standard. When night again closed upon the weary com- 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



341 



batants twenty thousand men lay dead and wounded on the fear- 
ful field. 

It may appropriately be said that Lee was very much dis- 
couraged, and during the night he retreated to seek his in- 
trenchments near Spottsylvania Court House ; but Grant, with 
worthy courage and invincible determination, started in imme- 
diate pursuit, and the next day a running fight was kept up 
in a parallel line, but the dense growth of the trees and under- 
brush in the Wilderness was so thick that the two armies could 
scarcely see each other. 

Thus passed the third day, and on the next morning General 
Grant made the attack upon Lee in his works, and drove the 
rebels from their outer intrenchments with a loss of about three 
thousand prisoners. Night again came, and the armies slept, 
as it were, with their hands on each others' throats. The next 
morning Grant was up at daylight, thundering away with his 
batteries at the rebel breast-works, and all day continued with- 
out an intermission. The next day it was resumed and fought 
with indescribable fury, and ended with an irresistible charge 
upon the enemy's works, sweeping them from the outer line 
and capturing two thousand prisoners. The loss in this day's 
terrific struggle was nearly ten thousand men on each side. 
Up to that time 5,000 rebel prisoners had been taken, while 
only a few stragglers here and there had been secured from our 
army. It was at the close of this day's fighting that General 
Grant said in his laconic message to the War Department, " I 
propose to fight it out on this line if it takes me all summer" 

On the next day, the 11th, the armies were so completely 
exhausted that there was no general engagement, but Grant 
was laying bis plans, and at midnight General Hancock, in a 
terrific thunder-storm, charged the enemy's lines with such 
impetuous fury that he drove the rebels back from their in- 
trenchments in that division, capturing over 3,000 prisoners and 
thirty guns. This brave charge brought on a general en- 
gagement, which continued the remainder of the night and all 
the next day, with a loss in killed and wounded equal to that 
of the day previous. Had it not been for Meade's delay in rein- 
forcing Hancock, an overwhelming victory would evidently 



342 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



have been gained over the rebels, but in the half hour in which 
the reinforcements were behind Lee had strengthened the force 
in front of Hancock until their position could not be carried, 
and the brave general was forced to abandon the captured in- 
trenchments and fall back. 

This day's battle resulted in forcing Lee to fall back to his 
inner lines, and General Grant took up a new position nearer 
the enemy. But he had formed a plan for a flank movement, 
and by a.quick march carried his army south to a position be- 
yond Spottsylvania Court House. Lee, however, had the short- 
est line of march, and being on the alert, threw his force with 
great celerity into the intrenchment he had previously prepared 
in front of Grant's new position, with a view to prevent a march 
upon Richmond. 

When General Grant had secured his new position he sent 
Sheridan with his cavalry to destroy the railroads and break 
Lee's communication with Richmond. This raid was success- 
ful in breaking railroad communication and in defeating 
Stuart's cavalry; and cutting his way through the country, 
Sheridan established his communications with Butler at 
Bermuda Hundred. 

General Grant followed immediately after this raid and 
took up a new position at Guinea Station. The movements of 
General Grant had caused great uneasiness to Lee, who began 
to fear that his line of communication would be cut off, and 
that Grant would make a forced march and capture Richmond. 
He was therefore compelled to abandon his position and push 
on toward Richmond. His line of march was only a few miles 
from that of the Union forces, with whom he was keeping 
abreast. General Grant's army had been increased to one 
hundred and fifty thousand men, and as it swept on irresistibly 
Lee dared not risk an attack, and could only keep up with it and 
watch for some unguarded moment or some false military move; 
but Grant was not the General to permit such opportunities. 

General Grant's plan of operations against Richmond had 
been matured with a view of uniting his army with the forces 
under Butler, whose movement began from Fortress Monroe 
and ended by taking Tip a strong position at Bermuda Hundred, 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



343 



which afforded an excellent base for operations against either 
Petersburg or Richmond. Knowing that he was sure of rein- 
forcements on the south side of Richmond, General Grant 
pushed on with his army, hoping at any moment to catch Lee 
at a disadvantage and to crush him. 

General Grant reached Cool Arbor on the 1st of June, at 
which point he was within a few miles of Richmond with his 
line stretching nearly ten miles, at which point Lee made a vig- 
orous assault upon the weakest part of the line, hoping to break 
it; but he was forced to fallback behind his fortifications, where 
Grant in turn made an attack upon him on the morning of the 
3d. This was a gigantic conflict in which three hundred thou- 
sand men were engaged. Day after day the battle raged with 
terrible slaughter, without any particular advantage perceptible; 
but Grant knew that his blows were having a distressing effect 
upon Lee. On the night of the 5th the rebels in desperation 
charged upon the lines of the Union Army, under support of a 
fearful fire from their heavy batteries, but they were met with 
a solid sheet of flame from our cannon, which poured forth the 
most deadly volleys of grape and canister, sweeping the rebels 
away like wheat before a sickle. Appalled at the terrible 
destruction, the rebels turned and fled, leaving their dead on the 
field. 

On the 11th General Grant executed one of the most brilliant 
moves of the war, and while menacing Lee with skirmishers 
to conceal his object he began a flank movement, and by a 
rapid march reached and crossed the James River, and forming 
a junction with General Butler, took up a position south of 
Richmond. Scarcely had the junction been formed before 
Grant began his attack upon Petersburg. 

Lee was completely outwitted by this movement, and had it 
not been for the delay of General Grant's subordinates in carry- 
ing out his instructions Lee would have found the Union army 
in full possession of Petersburg when he arrived. It had not, 
however, been taken, and he poured his rebels into its fortifica- 
tions until they were bristling at every point with bayonets and 
frowning with cannon. Then came the long, tedious siege and 
daily terrific struggles of the two armies. 



344 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



While battling with Lee, General Grant did not forget the 
great importance of destroying the railroads and cutting off 
Lee's communications with the South. To effectually isolate 
Petersburg, General Grant ordered all the cavalry force of his 
army to not only destroy communications, but to join Hunter 
near Lynchburg, or to push on and unite with Sherman in 
Georgia, if the obstacles met were not too formidable. 

All this time General Grant was making his position stronger 
and weaving the net around Petersburg that could not be broken 
through. To encourage him still more, he heard of Sherman's 
success in taking Atlanta, and he knew that the invincible old 
warrior, with his hundred thousand men, would soon be thun- 
dering toward the sea in his march of destruction, and if he only 
hurried in his Northern march, he would doubtless be in at the 
death of the rebellion. Sherman's march had been one of the 
most remarkable and destructive in military history, and had 
been as irresistible as that of the old Roman legions. He had 
carried the war home to the South, and had not only cut the 
Confederacy in two, but had cut their communications and 
destroyed their supplies by sweeping a path of desolation sixty 
miles wide and three hundred miles long, in which railroads 
and everything that could aid the rebellion were destroyed, and 
beef cattle, sheep, hogs, fowl, horses and mules captured for 
the use of the army. 

At this time it was evident that Lee was contemplating the 
evacuation of Petersburg and uniting with Johnston; but Gen- 
eral Grant was on the alert for such a movement and ready to 
pounce on the enemy. He fully realized that if Lee was per- 
mitted to escape and form a junction with Johnston's army 
they would attempt to crush Sherman, and he was resolved to 
give Lee no rest or opportunity to strike another blow. 

At the first movement of Lee which indicated that he had 
commenced the evacuation of Petersburg, Grant hurled his 
forces upon him and stormed his intrench inents in a terrific 
contest which lasted for three days. On the night of the third 
day, which was the 3d of April, 1865, Lee abandoned Peters- 
burg and fled in the vain attempt to save his fated army. This 
retreat gave us Richmond and Petersburg ; but Lee was yet to 



ULYSSES S. GBANT. 



345 



be taken, and as he fled down the north bank of the Appomattox 
he was vigorously pursued by the victorious army of the 
Union. With splendid military skill General Grant had sent 
Sheridan by a shorter route to throw the Fifth Army Corps 
across the path of the rebel retreat, and to the consternation of 
Lee he found himself surrounded and cut off from his supplies. 
In every direction Sheridan, Meade, Ord, Humphrey and 
other generals of divisions were driving the rebels in at every 
attempt to escape, capturing prisoners, arms and military stores 
at almost every charge. The very rations for the rebels had 
been captured and in their half famished condition they lacked 
strength to make further resistance. Lee had evidently given 
up hope when he abandoned Petersburg, and in anticipation of 
surrender had allowed his soldiers to drop out of line along his 
entire route and return to their homes, until at the time he was 
completely surrounded at Appomattox Court House his army 
did not contain over 10,000 men in line. 

General Grant, at this point, with real sympathy for the miser- 
able remnant of the once proud army, and to save them from 
slaughter, sent the following dispatch to General Lee : 

" General : The result of the last week must convince you of the hopeless- 
ness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia in this 
struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself 
the responsibility of any further effusion of blood, by asking of you the sur- 
render of that portion of the Confederate States Army known as the Army 
of Northern Virginia." 

To this note Lee replied at once asking for the terms that 
would be offered on condition of surrender. 

In reply General Grant insisted upon but one condition, 
namely : " That the men and officers surrendered shall be dis- 
qualified for taking up arms against the Government of the 
United States until properly exchanged." To this Lee replied 
in a manner that indicated his desire to delay the unpleasant 
matter of surrender as long as possible, and he expressed his 
wish to meet with General Grant rather more to arrange for 
terms of peace than for a surrender. 

General Grant, after putting his troops in motion around 



346 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Appomattox Court House, so that Lee could not mistake the 
alternative, sent the following note : 

" General : Your note of yesterday is received. I have no authority to 
treat on the subject of peace; the meeting proposed for ten o'clock a. m. 
to-day could do no good. I will state, however, General, that I am equally 
anxious for peace wiih yourself, and the whole North entertains the same 
feeling. The terms upon which peace can be had are well understood. By 
the South laying down their arms they will hasten that most desirable event, 
save thousands of human lives and hundreds of millions of property not yet 
destroyed. Seriously hoping that all our difficulties may be settled without 
the loss of another life, I subscribe myself," etc. 

Lee, knowing that the surrender was inevitable, no longer 
parlied for delay, but sought for definite terms of surrender 
and accepted them. 

Never before was a surrender conducted on more honorable 
terms or with kinder regard for the feelings of the vanquished, 
and the exhausted rebel soldiers were the first to raise the wild 
cheer of joy at the news of the surrender ; then one united 
shout arose from the throats of the Union army, which was 
caught up in a universal hurrah of triumph throughout the land 
as soon as the joyful news was heralded over the wires. Peace 
at last ! What glorious significance there was in the news ! 

The great rebellion was crushed, and it only remained for 
Johnston to surrender to Sherman, which he did on the 25th of 
April, and the other rebel commands throughout the countiy 
either to surrender to the Union troops in their front or to dis- 
band and return to their homes, to release our great army 
from further duty in the field. 

The world had never before witnessed such a spectacle as the 
quiet, orderly and peaceful disbanding and dispersing of such 
an immense army, and it gave an additional guarantee of the 
stability of our republican institutions to realize that fierce 
soldiers could so quickly be returned to the arts of peace. 

In token of the high appreciation of the country for the 
noble and patriotic services of Lieu tenant-General Grant, he 
was on the 25th of July, 1866, promoted to the rank of General, 
the highest military grade possible in our Army. 

A still further compliment to his ability was paid him by his 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



347 



appointment as Secretary of War ad interim, on the 12th of 
August, 1867. By the reconstruction acts of March, 1867, mili- 
tary commanders were appointed for the several districts into 
which the South was divided by the acts. These commanders 
General Grant advised, in his official instructions, to use great 
moderation and kindness toward the people of the South, and in 
all his duties, both as General of the army and Secretary of 
War, he acted with excellent discretion and ability. 

It must be said, in justice to General Grant, that he did not 
wish to accept the office of Secretary of War, and counseled the 
retaining of Mr. Stanton, and it was only when he saw that 
President Johnson was determined upon Stanton's removal 
that he accepted it, that it might not, in his own language, fall 
into the hands of some incompetent or unpatriotic person. 

When President Johnson, without any reasonable pretext, 
removed Generals Sheridan, Sickles and Pope from their com- 
mands in the South, General Grant earnestly advised the Presi- 
dent against the unwise act, but when Johnson persisted in his 
removal of the very men whom General Grant had recom- 
mended for the positions, he quietly acquiesced, and earnestly 
co-operated with the newly appointed commanders in the work 
of reconstruction. 

One of the most beneficial services he rendered the country 
during his exercise of the office, was the reduction of various 
expenses, by cutting down the number of employes in the 
Freedman's Bureau, also by transferring the duties of the 
Bureaus of Rebel Archives and of exchange of prisoners to the 
office of the Adjutant-General, besides closing many depart- 
ments and offices which were the outgrowth of the war and 
whose sphere of usefulness had ceased with the war. In 
various other ways he cut down expenses connected with the 
War Department. 

When the Senate met and refused to concur in the removal 
of Mr. Stanton, and decided that he be reinstated, General 
Grant at once quietly acquiesced and relinquished the office. 
President Johnson asserted that General Grant had promised 
that he would in this event either resign the Secretaryship jr 
remain and resist the reinstatement of Mr. Stanton. This 



348 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



promise General Grant denied having made, and this was the 
question of veracity between the President and General Grant, 
on which the country generally stood by the General of the 
Army. 

On the 21st of May, 1868, the National Republican Conven- 
tion, which met in Chicago, by acclamation nominated General 
Grant as their candidate for President of the United States. 
Just two days previous to the meeting of the Convention, there 
had been held also in Chicago a convention of soldiers and sail- 
ors, who had unanimously nominated General Grant as their 
candidate for the Presidency, which was a double indorsement 
of his sterling qualities and fitness for the position, more espe- 
cially as many of the soldiers and sailors were War Democrats. 

To the committee notifying General Grant of his nomination 
he expressed the following sentiments in the concluding portion 
of his speech : 

u If elected to the office of President of the United States it will be my 
endeavor to administer all the laws in good faith, with economy, and with 
the view of giving peace, quiet and protection everywhere. In times like 
the present it is impossible, or at least eminently improper, to lay down a 
policy to be adhered to, right or wrong, through an administration of four 
years. New political issues, not foreseen, are constancy arising ; the views 
of the public on old ones are constantly changing ; and a purely adminis- 
trative officer should always be left free to execute the will of the people. I 
always have respected that will, and always shall. Peace and universal 
prosperity, its sequence, with economy of administration, will lighten the 
burden of taxation, while it constantly reduces the national debt. Let us 
have peace 1" 

The Democratic party nominated Horatio Seymour, a very 
popular man and an able statesman, as their candidate, and the 
contest was naturally an exciting one. General Grant received 
at the election 3,016,358 of the popular vote and Seymour 
2,906,631. The electoral vote stood 214 for Grant and 80 for 
Seymour. 

On the 4th of March, 1869, General Grant made his inaugural 
address and took the oath of office, upon which he entered with 
the confidence and highest respect of the entire country re- 
gardless of party. In the sentiment he had previously 
uttered, "Let us have peace," the white wings of peace were 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



849 



hovering over the land, and the swords had been beaten into 
plowshares. 

There were, however, many difficulties presenting themselves 
in his administration. Some of the Southern States were still 
undergoing reconstruction, while many political difficulties 
were constantly presenting themselves. One very important 
question was that of the welfare of the f reedmen who had been 
cast upon the generosity of the government to work out their 
political equality in the land, and to educate them and prepare 
them for self-support. Besides there were the usual intricacies 
of foreign relations, and many issues of a local and sectional as 
well as general interest to be disposed of, which have puzzled 
many a wise statesman. 

But such was General Grant's uniform and satisfactory 
administration of the executive office that he was nominated 
for re-election by the National Republican Convention in 1872, 
and at the election he received 292 electoral votes, which placed 
him in the executive chair for a second term. 

General Grant had long desired to make an extensive tour of 
foreign countries, and at the close of his second term he 
resolved to put his plans into execution. Starting soon after 
on a tour around the world, he visited England, France, Ger- 
many, Austria, Russia, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy. Spain, 
Turkey, India and China. 

Everywhere he traveled he received the highest courtesies 
and most perfect ovations. His fame had reached the remot- 
est ends of the earth, and men who could not speak a word of 
our language gathered to do him honor. 

On his return he again became one of the citizens of our 
great republic, and has since been engaged in various business 
pursuits, having been one of the most active promoters of the 
proposed lines of railroads in Mexico. 

He is the first one of all the extended lists of Presidents in 
our history who is still alive, and we close his biography by 
wishing him many remaining years of life,, health and pros- 
perity. 



RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 



The subject of this biography descends from an ancient 
Scotch family, said to be traced back to two Scottish chieftains 
named Rutherford and Hayes, who fought with Wallace and 
Bruce, but, with the varying fortunes of the land of hills and 
heather, the estates of the family passed into other hands, and 
they were scattered in other localities. 

The American branch of the family dates back to George 
Hayes, who came to this country and settled in Windham, 
Conn., in 1682, where he engaged in making wagons and other 
useful articles in wood and iron. His son Daniel having been 
captured by Indians in 1712, it cost the Colonial government 
seven pounds to ransom him, or the family would probably 
have been cut short at that point, and turned the Presidential 
succession in this country in another direction. After being 
ransomed he did his duty to his country by marrying Sarah 
Lee. Ezekiel, the son of this marriage, was born in 1824, and 
gave to the country the first Rutherford Hayes, who combined 
the three industries of farming, blacksmith in g and keeping 
tavern. His son Rutherford, who was father of President 
Hayes, was born in Brattleboro, Vt., where he became an ex- 
cellent citizen and a prosperous merchant. 

Being tempted toward the great West, which was then becom- 
ing so attractive to emigrants, he removed to Delaware, Ohio, 
with his wife and children and a brother of his wife's, named 
Sard is Birchard. Here, as in Vermont, he became a promi- 
nent citizen and prospered in business. His life in Ohio, how- 
ever, was short, for five years afterward he died of typhoid 
fever. Three months after his death a son was born to the 
widow, whom she named Rutherford Birchard Hayes, after her 
departed husband and brother. This son is the subject of our 



352 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



biography. The particular date of his birth was the 4th of 
October, 1822. 

Rutherford, for months after his birth, was so sickly that he 
was not expected to live, but through his mother's assiduous 
care he improved in health and became stronger, until his 
chances of life were equal to those of other children. When 
he was but three years old his only brother was drowned, and 
then he became more precious to his mother than ever. 

Mrs. Hayes had been left in comfortable circumstances by 
her husband at his death, with a good brick dwelling in the 
town of Delaware and a farm from which she drew her in- 
come. Some of the sweetest recollections of the ex-President 
are of those childhood days, when he went to the old farm in 
fruit time and the roasting-ear and watermelon season, and 
later in the fall when the frost was rattling down the hickory 
nuts and walnuts. These early joys were shared with him by 
his sister, who was two years his senior. This sister was inval- 
uable to him in his studies and assisted him and studied the 
same books with him at home and at school until he was four- 
teen years old, when he went to the Nor walk, Ohio, Academy 
for two years, and then, at the age of sixteen, entered Kenyon 
College, Ohio, from which he graduated in 1842. 

Tt is said of young Hayes that he was amiable at school, atten- 
tive to his studies and very observant of the rules of the college. 

Returning home for a few weeks after his graduation he then 
began the siudy of law in the office of Sparrow & Matthews 
at Columbus, Ohio, where he remained ten months, when it 
was decided to complete his studies in the Law Department of 
Harvard College at Cambridge, Mass., where he graduated at 
the end of two years. Returning to Ohio he was admitted to 
the bar at Marietta, from whence he went to Fremont and be- 
gan the practice of law as a partner of Ralph P. Buckland. It 
will never be known how extensive a practice would have re- 
sulted from this partnership, for Mr. Hayes' health broke down 
from the long mental strain at college and in the law school, 
during all which time he had taken no rest or recreation. It 
became necessary, therefore, for him to relinquish practice for 
a time and recruit his failing health. 



RUTHERFORD B HAYES. 



353 



His first intention was to become a volunteer in the Mexican 
War, but his physician forbade a trip South and insisted on 
his going to a Northern climate. Obeying his medical adviser, 
he passed the summer in New England and Canada, roughing 
it in the woods and mountains, hunting and fishing, and part 
of the time camping out. Returning restored in health, he 
then paid a visit to an old college chum in Texas, where he 
freely enjoyed the free wild life of the ranch. 

On his return from Texas, in 1849, he decided to settle in 
Cincinnati and resume the practice of the law in that city. 
Here he formed a new law partnership, and while slowly 
building up a practice, was carefully reviewing his legal studies. 
Here his first important case was as attorney for the defense of 
a woman named Nancy Farrer, who had poisoned a number of 
persons. Mr. Hayes was appointed to the defense by the Court, 
and he at once entered a plea of insanity, and so persistently 
clung to it by able arguments and citation of precedents that 
he landed his client in the lunatic asylum instead of on the 
gallows. This was such a remarkable ca3e that his success at 
once secured reputation and popularity for our young lawyer, 
and after that clients and fees were more plentiful. 

He now, like most young men when they find themselves es- 
tablished in a lucrative business, looked about him for some 
worthy young lady as a companion and helpmeet, and having 
found the object of his choice, he was on the 30th of December, 
1852, united in marriage with Miss Lucy Ware Webb, of Cin- 
cinnati. This estimable lady has made him one of the noblest 
of wives, as all know who ever visited the White House while 
she presided over it. After this marriage Mr. Hayes rapidly 
developed his noblest traits of character. At about the same 
time he joined the Literary Club of Cincinnati, in which he 
beeame intimate with Salmon P. Chase, Thomas Corwin, Gen- 
eral Ewing, J ames Hoadley and other able men of literature, 
law and politics. 

Mr. Hayes was formerly a Whig but joined the Republican 
party soon after its formation, when he realized that the Whig 
party had outlived its usefulness. Its old issues were no longer 
the existing ones before the country. Slavery had become the 



354 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



absorbing political question of the day, and in 1856 we find 
Mr. Hayes supporting Fremont, the Republican candidate for 
the Presidency. 

In 1853 Mr, Hayes was chosen by the City Council of Cincin- 
nati as City Solicitor, to fill a vacancy, and his performance of 
che duties of that office were indorsed by his re-election a few 
months later. 

In 1860, he gave his full support to Abraham Lincoln, and 
watched with the keenest interest the turn of political events. 
On the subject of secession he expressed the sentiment that if 
the threats were really meant, it was time the Union was dis- 
solved or the traitors crushed out. 

At last the moment of supreme excitement came. The news 
flashed over the wires that Fort Sumter had fallen, and in the 
wild outburst of popular indignation, and the grand uprising of 
the people, Mr. Hayes stood foremost among the citizens of 
Cincinnati in speeches and resolutions calculated to thrill the 
public with a sense of the enormity of the treason, and the 
necessity of stamping it out. On the 15th of May he wrote as 
follows : 

" Judge Matthews and I have agreed to go into the service 
for the war ; if possible, in the same regiment. I spoke my 
feelings to him, which he said were his own : that this was a 
just and necessary war, that it demanded the whole power of 
the country, and that I would prefer to go into it if I knew I 
was to be hilled in the course of it, rather than to live through 
and after it without taking part in it." 

Immediately after this they together enlisted and almost 
immediately a Colonel's commission was sent to him through 
the influence of Secretary Chase, but Mr. Hayes, realizing his 
military unfitness for such a responsibility, declined the com- 
mission, saying that he desired a position in a capacity less re- 
sponsible. He was then appointed Major of the Twenty-third 
Ohio Volunteers, and he at once went into camp at Columbus 
with the regiment. Here they remained training in comfort and 
tranquillity until news of the crushing defeat at Bull Run 
aroused the government to the necessity of pushing troops to 
the front from all the training regiments, and in this general 



RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 



355 



activity the Twenty-third Ohio was ordered to West Virginia, 
to guard the Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad and for skirmish duty 
in preventing rebel raids. Here the regiment was kept busy in 
hunting and driving out bands of guerrillas who were plunder- 
ing and murdering the people of West Virginia. 

The first real engagement in which the regiment participated 
was in the fight with Floyd at the battle of Carnifex Ferry. In 
this engagement Major Hayes was ordered with four companies 
of the regiment to make a flank movement on the enemy. This 
order Major Hayes executed without any special instructions, 
and forming his men into a skirmishing line, put them under the 
fire of the enemy as coolly as if he were preparing to argue a 
case in court. The victory over Floyd was so complete that 
nothing but night saved his army from capture. This success 
gave confidence to the regiment and some little experience to 
Major Hayes. 

After this battle Major Hayes was ordered to the head- 
quarters of General Rosecrans to serve on his staff as Judge- 
Advocate. On his return to his regiment six weeks later, he 
found that the lieutenant-colonel had resigned, and Major 
Hayes was promoted to fill the vacancy. The winter was 
passed by the regiment at Camp Ewing, with only an occasional 
raid and skirmish with the enemy. On the 1st of May Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Hayes led in a charge upon the rebel fortifica- 
tions at Princeton. So impetuous was the charge that he 
carried the enemy's works, and they fled, leaving the place in 
possession of the gallant Twenty-third regiment. The rebels, 
however, on the 8th of the month, four thousand strong, 
attacked the Twenty-third, which with five hundred cavalry 
and a battery of light artillery was under command of Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Hayes at Giles Court House, compelling him to 
fall back. This movement required the best military judg- 
ment and bravery to prevent the capture of the entire com- 
mand, but Lieutenant-Colonel Hayes threw out skirmishers 
and kept the pursuing enemy at a distance, while he retreated 
in excellent order and reached the main line of the army in 
safety. In the retreat Lieutenant- Colonel Hayes was slightly 
wounded by a piece of shell. 



356 LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 

The regiment was then ordered to Washington to join 
McClellan's army, where it reported on the 13th of September; 
it was sent to the front, where it arrived in time to engage in the 
battles of South Mountain and Antietam. The battle began with 
the advance of Lieutenant-Colonel Hayes' command, which was 
ordered to advance by a mountain path and attack the rebels on 
the right flank. The regiment was in General Cox's Division, 
and the advance on the rebel flank was opposed by General Gar- 
land, who was killed and his troops swept away by the im- 
petuous charge, until Longstreet, with fresh troops posted 
behind strong intrenchments, drove back the Union forces 
until they were reinforced. Here Lieutenant-ColoDel Hayes 
was exposed to a fire so terrific that almost every blade of grass 
was cut away and nearly every leaf stripped from the trees, 
while grape and canister cut fearful swathes in the ranks, and 
everywhere the men were going down before the hail of death. 
It was while surrounded by this awful carnage that Lieutenant- 
Colonel Hayes, in leading his men over rocks, logs and broken 
ground, was struck down by a ball that shattered his left arm, 
and was left on the field while his regiment charged ahead. 
Being forced to fall back, they were leaving him between them 
and the rebels, when he shouted out : " Halloo, Twenty-third 
Ohio ! Are you going to leave your Colonel here for the 
enemy ? " At this a number of brave boys rushed back, but the 
fire of the rebels became so hot that he ordered his soldiers not 
to expose themselves. Then one of his Lieutenants came and 
assisted him out of range of the fire, and left him behind a log 
in company with a wounded rebel Major. By this time rein- 
forcements arrived, and the Twenty-third Ohio, in command 
of the Major, charged the enemy and drove them from the hill 
at the point of the bayonet. 

When Lieutenant-Colonel Hayes was at last placed in charge 
of the surgeon, his condition was serious, and grave fears were 
entertained that he would not survive. While he was not 
aware of his dangerous condition, he was only solicitous about 
saving his arm, which had been so badly shattered that part of 
the bone was shot away. While in this condition, his wife, 
with the love and devotion of a woman, was hunting for him 



RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 



357 



among all the farm-houses and barns for twenty miles around, to 
which the wounded had been carried. At last she found Mm 
in an old dilapidated building. The wonderful vitality of the 
Lieutenant-Colonel, and, doubtless, too, the presence of Mrs. 
Hayes, carried him through, and his arm was healing so rapidly 
without amputation, that he sent word to the Governor of Ohio, 
"Tell Governor Todd that I'll be on hand again shortly." 

While still in the hospital, Lieutenant-Colonel Hayes was pro- 
moted to the rank of Colonel of the Twenty-third Ohio, to fill 
the vacancy caused by the promotion of Colone] Scammon to 
Brigadier-General. 

In October, 1862, the Twenty-third Ohio went into winter quar- 
ters at the falls of the Great Kanawha, to recruit their strength 
and numbers. Here they were rejoined by Colonel Hayes ; and 
although his arm was still so tender that he could not raise it 
to his head, he went about the camp constantly, looking after 
the welfare of the men and the sanitary condition of the camp, 
which had been made a model of comfort with its neat little 
cabins. The quarters were called "Camp Lucy Hayes," in 
honor of Mrs. Hayes, who came for the winter with the chil- 
dren, and passed her time in the hospital, caring for the 
sick. 

On the 15th of March the division was ordered to break camp 
and march to Charleston, "W. Va., from which point they 
raided Virginia and destroyed many rebel military stores, be- 
sides capturing a number of prisoners. From this point 
Colonel Hayes was ordered to Southwestern Virginia to break the 
railroad communication. The expedition, after many hardships 
and dangers, succeded in its object and returned about the mid- 
dle of July, just in time for Colonel Hayes to start in pursuit of 
Morgan, who was returning south from his raid into Indiana 
and Ohio. Ordering two steamboats from Charleston up the 
Kanawha and receiving consent for the expedition from the 
General of the division, Colonel Hayes embarked on the boat with 
two regiments and a section of artillery. On reaching Pomeroy, 
Ohio, he found the military drawn up in line waiting for 
Morgan's arrival. Colonel Hayes was not only waiting for him 
also, but he went to meet him, and after a spirited little engage- 



358 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



ment, Morgan fled with the Twenty-third at his heels. The 
next morning Colonel Hayes was reinforced by Judah's cavalry 
and the gunboats, and resuming the tight with Morgan, the latter 
was routed with a loss of half bis men, followed soon after by 
the capture of the remainder, including Morgan himself. This 
defeat and capture of the rebel raider was plainly the result of 
the expedition planned by Colonel Hayes, without which early 
movement it is probable Morgan would have escaped. 

After this tbe Twenty-third Regiment, together with the 
other troops over which Colonel Hayes was in command as 
acting Brigadier-General, returned to Charleston, where they 
remained until April, 1864, at which time they were ordered 
to join General Crook in a raid for the purpose of destroying 
the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad by burning the bridge 
over New River. The march was one of the most diffi- 
cult that could possibly be accomplished ; over mountains, 
through ravines, with torrents and swollen streams and dense for- 
ests, almost impassable with snow and ice and rain. Just before 
reaching tbe railroad, they found a rebel force posted in a strong 
position on the mountain ridge over which they were compelled 
to pass. The rebel position w^as bristling with three lines of the 
most formidable fortifications, which must be taken. This 
position Colonel Hayes was ordered to take by assault. Form- 
ing his men at the edge of the meadow, he charged across the 
open field under a fierce fire'of the enemy, and dashing through 
a stream at the base of the mountain, his soldiers climbed over 
rocks and fallen timber until they reached a slight shelter under 
the edge of the cliff. Halting there only long enough to reform 
his lines, Colonel Hayes ordered the fearful charge up the 
almost perpendicular sides of the mountain, with the terrible 
hail of musketry and cannon playing on them with deadly 
effect. Knowing that the quicker they got into the enemy's 
works the fewer Union soldiers would be sacrificed, they raised 
a wild yell and rushed so furiously up the steep hillside that 
they were pouring over the breastworks before the rebels could 
comprehend the situation. The rebels rushed panic-stricken 
from their first lines, with the Union soldiers after them to pre- 
vent them from reforming on the second crest. Here a fierce 



KTJTHEKFORD B. HAYES. 



359 



hand-to-hand fight of a few minutes followed, when the rebels 
again retreated to their last line, and fought with desperation 
until they were again overwhelmed and fled rapidly down the 
mountain and disappeared in the heavy timber on the oppo- 
site side. 

General Crook now hastened his troops to the New River 
Bridge, which they burned, together with the railroad ties, for 
several miles, thereby destroying the rebel communica- 
tion in that direction. The expedition having accom- 
plished its purpose, immediately set out on its return before 
reinforcements of the enemy could cut off its retreat, and 
after a wretched march through torrents of rain and flooded 
roads and streams, they arrived at Staunton on the 8th of June, 
where Colonel Hayes' brigade joined Hunter's command. 

At the attack on Lexington on the 11th, Colonel Hayes' 
brigade led the advance and deserved great credit in the cap- 
ture of the town after a three-hours' fight. On the 14th he ad- 
vanced within one or two miles of Lynchburg, and engaged a 
body of rebels, whom he defeated. On the 18th the regular 
attack on Lynchburg was made by Hunter in front and Crook 
in the rear, but heavy reinforcements having been sent from 
Eichmond, the Federal forces were compelled to fall back. 
Hayes' brigade was ordered to cover the retreat, and, although 
they had been two nights without sleep and almost without 
food, they bravely performed their duty, fighting all day and 
remaining awake at night to prevent surprise. On the 20th 
Hayes took possession of Buford's Gap, and held it all day, 
thereby keeping back a body of rebels who intended shelling 
the retreating army from the heights. At Big Se wall Mountain 
Hayes' Brigade obtained the first food and rest since the retreat 
began, having performed almost superhuman services. 

Reaching Charleston on the 1st of July, Crook's command 
rested until the 10th, when it was ordered to oppose the ad- 
vance of Early into Maryland and Pennsylvania. When in the 
neighborhood of Harper's Ferry, Hayes was sent, on the 18th, 
with his brigade and a howitzer battery to reconnoitre Early's 
movements, and being surrounded by rebel cavalry, fought his 
way out and joined Crook at Winchester, on the 22d. 



360 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



To prevent Early from reinforcing Lee, General Crook's divi- 
sion was kept busy making raids and harassing Early at every 
available point, and Hayes' brigade always seemed to be the 
favorite one selected for movements of this kind. Upon one of 
these occasions, Hayes was sent out with his brigade to co- 
operate with another brigade, under Colonel Mulligan, in an 
attack upon an advancing body of rebels. As the two brigades 
advanced upon the enemy, they could only see a line or two of 
skirmishers, and supposed the rebel movement to be only a re- 
connoissance, but great was their surprise to find the rebels 
massed in great force on the hills, between which the commands 
of Hayes and Mulligan were hemmed. They saw at once that 
it was fight or surrender, and fight they did. Almost at the 
first fire Colonel Mulligan was killed, and the rebels closed in 
upon the apparently doomed Union forces, but Colonel Hayes 
quickly fell back to a thick wood, where he formed his men and 
poured such a deadly volley into the enemy that he held them 
at bay, and disconcerting them by his firm resistance, he con- 
tinued his retreat, and for twelve miles held the enemy in check 
by turning when closely pressed and pouring a volley into their 
ranks. In this way Colonel Hayes reached Crook's forces with 
the two brigades. 

After this Hayes's brigade was kept busy in the Shenandoah 
Valley, and on the 23d of August he executed his most brilliant 
charge at Halltown, and captured entire a South Carolina 
regiment, which so completely surprised the rebels that they 
exclaimed : ' ' Who the are you-uns ? " 

Colonel Hayes again engaged in a hot battle on the 3d of 
September at Berry ville. Here his brigade drove back with 
great slaughter a strong force from Longstreet's Division. 
Colonel Hayes had posted his men behind a low stone wall 
along the line of the turnpike, and as the enemy charged, the 
Hayes brigade rose with a wild shout and poured a deadly 
volley into the ranks of the discomfited enemy, and then they 
charged the rebels, who in great disorder fled to their main 
body, which in turn chased Hayes' command to the cover of 
the woods. 

On the 19th of September Colonel Hayes accomplished one 



RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 



361 



of the most daring services at the battle of Winchester. 
General Crook's division was ordered to advance on the enemy's 
extreme right. In the charge Hayes's Brigade was in front 
and with a line of skirmishers he drove back the enemy's 
cavalry while his brigade marched across the open fields. When 
they reached an elevation in the field they were in plain view 
of the enemy, who began pouring a brisk artillery fire into their 
ranks. Ordering his men on the double quick, Colonel Hayes 
pushed through the underbrush, and to his surprise came upon 
a deep slough or miry creek forty or fifty yards wide. The 
rebels never supposed that a body of troops would attempt to go 
through the dark water and dangerous mud of this slough, but 
Colonel Hayes saw at a glance that the rebel battery beyond 
was almost unsupported, and, plunging into the horrible filth, 
he and his horse for a moment disappeared from sight, but 
struggling to the surface, the horse swam and dragged himself 
through the deepest water until he mired and sank down on 
the opposite side. Here Colonel Hayes turned and waved his 
cap for his brigade to follow. With a yell they followed their 
brave commander, and while many were mired or drowned, 
the remainder crossed in safety and poured over the rebel 
intrenchments, where they captured a number of prisoners, 
but could not secure the battery, which had been hastily with- 
drawn. Colonel Hayes then formed his brigade on the ground 
taken from the enemy, and, assisted by Sheridan's cavalry, 
which had crossed at the end of the slough, the brigade charged 
the rebel lines, and, supported by Crook's main force, they 
carried the day and swept the rebels from the field. 

The next day occurred the battle of Fisher's Hill. After the 
defeat of the day previous the rebels retreated to a narrow de- 
file in the Shenandoah Valley, commanded by the mountain 
ridge called Fisher's Hill, which they fortified and believed to be 
impregnable. This position Crook and Sheridan decided could 
be taken by turning the left flank of the enemy. The army 
was at once put in motion, and after the most difficult march- 
ing and clambering over rocks and through ravines, they came 
in sight of the rebels, and, ordering the charge, Hayes 
galloped down on the rebels with the army yelling at his heels, 



362 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



The charge was made with such a dare-devil rush that the 
rebels, without firing a gun, rushed panic-stricken from their 
intrenchments, leaving every gun behind. 

On the 19th of October, Early having reorganized his com- 
mand and received reinforcements, engaged Crook's and 
Sheridan's commands, during the absence of General Sheridan, 
and most disastrously defeated them, driving them back m the 
greatest disorder. Colonel Hayes acted with the greatest 
bravery and coolness, and, keeping his lines unbroken, fell back 
stubbornly before the enemy. 

During this brave and stubborn resistance Colonel Hayes was 
at one time left exposed to the fire of the enemy, who seemed 
to concentrate their hail of lead around him. Galloping away 
at full speed, his horse was suddenly struck down dead, riddled 
by bullets. His fall was so sudden that Colonel Hayes was 
thrown over his head, badly bruising himself and dislocating 
his ankle. Watching his chance, just after a shower of bul- 
lets fell around him, he jumped up and hastily hobbled to the 
lines of his brigade, where he mounted another horse and kept 
his men firing at the enemy. 

Suddenly there was a dash on the road, and Sheridan was 
seen furiously advancing on his magnificent black horse, which 
was streaming with perspiration and flaked with foam, and as 
he reached the disordered ranks, he said : ' ' Boys, this would 
never have happened if I had been here," and at once he began 
to form the broken fines and prepare for a wild charge upon 
the enemy The history of that charge is known to almost 
every one, and a splendid victory wiped out the defeat and 
swept the rebels from the valley. Nearly all their supplies were 
captured and all that we had previously lost retaken. 

After the gallant conduct of Colonel Hayes in this battle 
Sheridan said to him : "You will be a Brigadier- General from 
this time," and it was but a short time after that he received 
his promotion, which specified that it was "for gallant and 
meritorious services in the battles of Winchester, Fisher's Hill 
and Cedar Creek." Later he received the commission of a 
Brevet Major-General as a reward for the same and other gal- 
lant services rendered during the war. 



RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 



363 



During the time Colonel Hayes was in the hottest of the 
Shenandoah Valley campaign he was nominated for Congress 
by the Republicans of his district in Cincinnati. His friends 
wrote to him that he ought to be present in Cincinnati to insure 
his election. To this he replied : " An officer Jit for duty, who at 
this crisis would abandon his post to electioneer for Congress, 
ought to be scalped. You may feel perfectly sure I shall do no 
such thing." So while he remained at his post and fought, his 
friends elected him to Congress. Shortly after this the war 
ended, and sending in his resignation, Mr. Hayes returned home 
to Cincinnati, and in the following December took his seat in 
Congress, where he became an industrious worker. He was 
appointed chairman of the Library Committee, and by his exer- 
tions secured a large increase of the Library of Congress. 
Having done his duty in many other works during his term, he 
was re-elected for the next term by a gain over his first vote. 

It was his intention, at the end of his second term, to retire to 
his uncle's farm at Fremont, but he reluctantly accepted the 
nomination for Governor of Ohio in 1867, upon the issue of the 
reconstruction measures. His opponent was Mr. Thurman, and 
the Republican party regarded General Hayes as the strongest 
man they could put up against him. As a proof of Hayes' per- 
sonal popularity, he was elected Governor, while the Legisla- 
ture and Constitutional Amendment were lost by fifty thousand 
majority. 

In 1869 General Hayes was renominated by the Republican 
convention by acclamation, and was elected over Mr. Pendle- 
ton, the Democratic candidate. At the end of this term he ex- 
pressed his desire to withdraw from political life, and wrote to 
a friend, saying : "I, too, mean to be out of politics. The rati- 
fication of the fifteenth amendment gives me the boon of 
equality before the law, terminates my enlistment and dis- 
charges me cured." 

His friends were not willing for him to retire from public 
services, and in 1872 he was again nominated for Congress in 
his old district. Reluctantly he entered the canvass and made 
a number of excellent speeches, but the opposition had grown 
too strong for Republican success, and he was defeated. 



364 



LIVES OF OUK PRESIDENTS. 



General Grant now offered him the position of Assistant 
United States Treasurer at Cincinnati, but his uncle, Sardis 
Birchard, had just died and left him his fine farm at Fremont, 
and declining the position offered him by the President, he re- 
tired to the sweet comfort of rural life. But here he was not 
allowed to remain. His friends of the Republican party ap- 
pealed to him in 1875 as the only man who could save the party 
from defeat in the Gubernatorial contest, and Mr. Hayes be- 
came the nominee. The issue was on the currency, and not 
only rallied a full Republican vote, but also many votes of War 
Democrats were secured by the personal popularity of Mr. 
Hayes, and for the third time he was elected Governor, in 
which position he displayed the greatest executive ability, and 
not only reduced the State debt, but was instrumental in secur- 
ing much beneficial legislation. 

The day was rapidly approaching when higher honors 
awaited him. In 1876 the Republican Convention met at 
Chicago to nominate candidates for the Presidency and Vice- 
Presidency. Those who had previously been talked of as the 
most probable candidates were Blaine and Conkling, between 
whom the party was divided. The Ohio delegation, however, 
came up solid for General Hayes, and urged his nomination as 
the strongest that could be made. This influence was so 
strong that after a number of ballots General Hayes was nomi- 
nated for the Presidency, and after writing a very able letter 
of acceptance, he retired to his home at Fremont. The Demo- 
crats nominated Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, for the 
Presidency, and the succeeding campaign was a close and 
vigorous one. 

The result of the election was unfortunately in doubt. Cer- 
tain complications arose in the election in South Carolina, 
Louisiana and Florida as to the admission of votes from certain 
districts in those States. There was a long and angry debate in 
Congress over the grave question of counting the electoral 
votes. The popular vote as taken had given Mr. Tilden a large 
majority, but the Republicans declared that the returns from 
parts of three States in dispute were irregular, and that certain 
votes were illegal and should not be counted. There could be 



RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 



365 



no agreement on the regular method of counting the electoral 
vote, so at last both parties agreed to refer the issue to a Com- 
mission composed of fifteen members, of whom five were to be 
from the House of Representatives, five from the Senate, and 
the remaining five were Judges of the Supreme Court of the 
United States. The selection of the Commission was made as 
follows: Three of the Senators were to be Eepublicans, and two 
tc be Democrats; three of the Representatives were to be Demo- 
crats and two of them Republicans. Of the Judges, four were 
to be equally divided between the two parties, and they were to 
select the fifth. This one happened to be a Republican. This 
gave the Republicans eight out of fifteen of the Commission, 
and it was but natural that they would decide every question 
by a party vote. This out-voted the Democrats by one vote 
and secured the Presidency for Mr. Hayes. 

It was unfortunate for his administration that the popular 
vote had been so large for Mr. Tilden, as his political opponents 
and even some of his own party believed that he was not 
entitled to the office. 

In the face of all this he gave the country a very quiet and 
commendable administration, and exercised the office with the 
least possible ostentation, thus securing friends from among 
his enemies, and at the expiration of his term retiring as 
modestly as he came in, and returning to his home at Fremont 
followed by the good opinions and well wishes of the nation. 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



James Abram Garfield was born November 19th, 1881, in a 
log-cabin on a new farm in Orange township, Cuyahoga County, 
Ohio, which his father was clearing. He came of hardy, 
industrious, intelligent New England stock. His earliest 
American ancestor was Edward Garfield, who emigrated from 
Cheshire, England, on the border of Wales, and settled in 
Watertown, Mass., in 1630, and was a selectman of his town 
for many years. The fourth son of Edward was Benjamin 
Garfield, a militia captain and a representative of Watertown 
in the General Court for nine terms. The line of descent comes 
down through Thomas Garfield, of Weston, Mass., his third 
child, and a second Thomas, who lived in Lincoln and was the 
oldest child of the first Thomas, to Solomon, the great-grand- 
father of General Garfield. Solomon's brother Abraham was 
in the fight at Concord Bridge. Solomon moved to Otsego 
County, New York, and settled in the township of Worcester. 
His son Thomas succeeded him as a small farmer. Abram, a 
son of Thomas, born in 1799, went to Ohio when a lad of 
eighteen and worked at chopping wood and clearing land in 
Newburg, near Cleveland. Afterward he journeyed to Mus- 
kingum County, where he met Eliza Ballou, who had been his 
schoolmate in his old home in Worcester, when they were 
children. They were married in 1820, and went to live in Bed- 
ford, Cuyahoga County. Eliza Ballou, the mother of General 
Garfield, was born in New Hampshire, of French Huguenot 
stock. Her ancestor, Maturin Ballou, fled from France on the 
revocation of the Edict of Nantes and settled in Rhode Island, 

James was the youngest of four children. His father bought 
eighty acres of forest land in Orange a short time before the 
boy's birth, put up a log cabin of a single room, moved his 



368 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



family into it, and began the work of clearing a farm. In May, 
1833, the father died, leaving the farm, partly cleared and only 
partly paid for, as the whole support of his young family. His 
last words were, " Eliza, I have planted four saplings in these 
woods; I leave them to your care." The mother, a woman of 
great courage and strong will, sold off half the land to pay the 
debt, and by the help of the oldest son managed to keep the 
family together, and to rear the children in the atmosphere of a 
pious, moral, self-sacrificing home life. 

James helped on the farm as soon as he was old enough to 
handle an ax or a hoe, or drive the oxen for his big brother to 
hold the plow. When older, he earned money by working for 
the neighbors in the hay-field. His first regular wages were 
gained by working in a potash factory owned by a neighboring 
storekeeper. His early education was got at a district school- 
house, where he learned to read, write and cipher. He had a 
passion for books from his childhood, and read the few volumes 
left by his father and everything he could borrow from the 
neighbors before he was ten years old. As a boy he was strong, 
active, fond of outdoor sports, kind, but quick-tempered, and 
swift to resent an insult with his fists. At school he was known 
as a fighting boy, because of his readiness to defend himself 
when misused by the larger boys. 

When eighteen he went to Newburg and took a contract to 
chop one hundred cords of wood at fifty cents a cord. There 
he got his first glimpse of Lake Erie, and the sight of its 
blue waters and white sails revived in him a boyhood dream of 
becoming a sailor. When the job of chopping was finished he 
went to Cleveland, with the intention of shipping as a hand on 
a schooner, but the captain of the first craft he boarded greeted 
him with a torrent of profanity and ordered him ashore. As no 
one wanted a green hand on the lake craft, he hired out to drive 
horses on the canal, and spent the summer boating between 
Cleveland and Brier Hill, on the Mahoning River, making one 
trip to Pittsburg. He soon rose to the rank of steersman, but 
hard work and exposure brought on a malarial fever which 
lasted all the next winter. 

With the help of the district schoolmaster, his mother 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



369 



dissuaded him from making another effort to go upon the lakes 
as a sailor, and in the following spring he went to Geauga 
Academy, a Baptist institution in the village of Chester, to make 
a start at getting an education. A cousin about the same age 
went with him, and the two lads hired a room and lived mostly 
on provisions which they took from home. His mother gave 
him seventeen dollars, which she and his brother Thomas had 
scraped together, and with this money he got through one term 
of school. In the summer he worked for day wages in the hay 
and harvest fields, and helped build a frame house for his 
mother, thus learning something of the carpenter trade, which 
was of great service to him afterward in enabling him to com- 
plete his education. Returning to the academy in the fall, he 
boarded himself at a cost of thirty-one cents per week, but find- 
ing the fare hardly good enough for health, increased his ex- 
penses to fifty cents per week. In the winter he taught a coun- 
try school for twelve dollars a month and " boarded around." 
The only time in his life when he sought a public position was 
when he looked for his first school. He tramped two days over 
the country without success, his youth and rather awkward, 
overgrown appearance being against him ; but after his return 
from his fruitless search, as he was sitting disconsolate at 
home, a neighbor came up and offered him a school half a mile 
away, which he had not ventured to apply for because it had 
been broken up two winters in succession by the unruly pupils. 
His good uncle Boynton, who was his adviser in all his early 
life, told him to undertake the school, and said, "You will go 
into that school as the boy Jim Garfield ; see that you leave it 
as Mr. Garfield, the teacher." James conquered the school and 
made an excellent teacher. 

He went back to the academy the following spring, and sup- 
ported himself by working for a carpenter mornings and even- 
ings and Saturdays. The carpenter agreed to board and lodge 
him and do his washing for one dollar and six cents per week, 
and credit him with his work by the hour or the job. James 
paid his way, bought himself some clothes and books, and had 
three dollars left at the end of the term. In the winter he 
taught school again — this time a larger school in the village of 



370 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Independence — for which he got sixteen dollars a month. He 
joined the Disciples Church, to which his mother and uncle be- 
longed, and which met in the school-house near his mother's 
farm, and was baptized in a little creek running into the 
Chagrin River. From Chester Academy the young student 
went to Hiram, in the adjoining county of Portage, where the 
Disciples had just opened a new school, called the Hiram Eclec- 
tic Institute. There, too, he earned his way by teaching country 
schools winters and working in summer at the carpenter's bench, 
until he was offered a tutorship in the institution. His ruling 
passion now was to get a college education. In three years' time 
he went through a preparatory course and half of the regular col- 
lege course, with the assistance of one of the teachers who studied 
with him, and thus did six years' study in three, while teaching 
classes all the time. To accomplish this he did an amount 
of brain work that would have appalled one less resolute, and 
would have broken down a constitution not remarkably strong. 
In 1854, when nearly twenty-three years old, he entered Wil- 
liams College, at Williamstown, Mass. , and passed the examina- 
tions for the Junior Class. He had saved money enough from 
his salary as a teacher to pay his expenses for one year. How 
to get the rest of the sum needed was a problem. A kind- 
hearted gentleman many years his senior, who was ever after 
one of his closest friends, loaned him the amount. So scrupu- 
lous was the young man about the payment of the debt that he 
got his life insured and placed the policy in his creditor's hands. 
" If I live," he said, " I shall pay you, and if I die you will 
suffer no loss." 

The debt was repaid soon after he graduated. In 1856 he 
graduated with the highest honor of his class. His classmates 
remember well his prodigious industry as a student, his physical 
activity in the college games, and his cordial, hearty social 
ways. During the two winter vacations which occurred while 
he was at Williams he taught writing-schools, first at North 
Pownal, Vermont, and next at Poestenkill, near Troy, N. Y. 

Returning to Ohio from college, young Garfield went back to 
the school at Hiram, and was given the professorship of Latin 
and Greek, and the next year, when only twenty-six years old, 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



371 



he was made President of the Institute. There probably never 
was a younger president. He carried into his new position the 
remarkable energy and vigor and good sense which were the 
mainsprings of his character. He soon increased the attend- 
ance at the school, raised its standard of scholarship, strength- 
ened its faculty, and inspired everybody connected with it with 
something of his own zeal and enthusiasm. At the same time he 
studied law and was an omnivorous reader of general literature. 

Garfield's first political speech was made at Williamstown in 
1856, just before he left college. It was an enthusiastic appeal 
in behalf of Fremont, the first Eepublican candidate for the 
Presidency. When he returned to Hiram he entered with 
ardor into the campaign then in progress, and made a number 
of speeches at evening meetings in country school-houses and 
town-halls. His first vote was cast that fall. Thus his political 
career began with the birth of the Republican party. 

His place in life seemed now won, and he married the object 
of his youthful love — Lucretia Rudolph, a farmer's daughter, 
who had been his fellow-student at Chester Academy, and his 
pupil at Hiram. Miss Rudolph was a refined, intelligent, affec- 
tionate girl, who shared his thirst for knowledge and his ambi- 
tion for culture, and had, at the same time, the domestic tastes 
and talents which fitted her equally to preside over the home of 
the poor college professor and that of the famous statesman. 
Much of Garfield's subsequent success in life may be attributed 
to his fortunate marriage. His wife grew with his growth, 
and was, during all his career, the appreciative companion of 
his studies, the loving mother of his children, the graceful, 
hospitable hostess of his friends and guests, and the wise and 
faithful helpmeet in the trials, vicissitudes and successes of hi3 
busy life. 

While teaching at Hiram, Garfield was in the habit of deliv- 
ering religious discourses on Sunday. He was never ordained 
as a minister, but in his denomination no ordination is required 
for occupying a pulpit, any member of the church being priv- 
ileged to deliver sermons. Garfield's talent as an orator and 
his sincere religious convictions made his services as a preacher 
of great value to the Disciples, and he was strongly urged to 



372 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



become a regular minister. His mind was already made up, 
however, that the law should be his ultimate profession, but 
he was glad to aid his denomination by pulpit discourses when- 
ever he could. For sometime he spoke regularly in the Dis- 
ciples church at Newburg, near Cleveland, going there from 
Hiram Saturdays and returning Monday mornings in time for 
his school duties. His stay at Hiram was a period of great 
intellectual activity for him. Besides his teaching and preach- 
ing, he delivered two lectures a week to the pupils of the Insti- 
tute on literary and historical subjects, took part in the fall 
campaign, and often lectured in the neighboring towns. At 
one time he held a five days' joint discussion on geology with 
William Denton, taking the providential against the material 
view of creation. 

In 1859 Garfield was elected to the Senate of Ohio from the 
counties of Portage and Summit. He had taken part in the po- 
litical campaigns of 1856, 1857, and 1858, and had become pretty 
well known as a vigorous, logical stump orator. He did not 
think a few weeks in the winter at Columbus would break in 
seriously upon his college work, to which he was devoted. It 
is probable, however, that he already felt the promptings of 
political ambition, which he did not even acknowledge to him- 
self. His most intimate friend in the Senate was J. D. Cox, 
who afterward became a Major-General, Governor of the 
State, and Secretary of the Interior. The two young Senators 
roomed together, studied together, and helped each other in the 
work of legislation. Garfield pushed his law studies forward, 
and early in the winter of 1861 was admitted to the bar of the 
Supreme Court. During the session of 1861 Garfield was char- 
acteristically active and vigorous in aiding to prepare the State 
to stand by the General Government in opposition to the rising 
storm of rebellion. When the storm burst he determined to 
drop everything and enter the army. He talked the matter 
over with his friend Cox, and both agreed that it was their duty 
to offer their lives, if need be, for their country. 

A company was raised at Hiram, composed exclusively of the 
students of his college, and was attached to the Forty-second Ohio 
Infantry. Governor Dennison offered Garfieid the colonelcy, but 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



373 



he modestly declined, on account of his lack of military experi- 
ence, and asked that a West Pointer be put in command. The 
Governor made him lieutenant-colonel, and a few weeks later, 
when the regiment was organized, he yielded to the universal 
desire of its officers and accepted the colonelcy. The regiment 
took the field in Eastern Kentucky, in December, 1861. Colonel 
Garfield was assigned to the command of the Eighteenth Brigade, 
and was ordered by General Buell to drive Humphrey Marshall 
out of the Sandy Valley. Thus a citizen soldier, who had never 
seen battle, was intrusted with the serious task of defeating a 
force outnumbering his by nearly two to one, and commanded 
by a man who had led the famous charge of the Kentucky 
Volunteers at Buena Vista. By a forced night march he reached 
Marshall's position, near Prestonburg, at daybreak, fell upon 
him with impetuosity, and after a sharp fight forced him to 
burn his baggage and retreat into Virginia. The rebels left a 
small force in Pound Gap, which .they fortified and held as a 
point of observation. On the 14th of March Colonel Garfield 
started with 500 infantry and 200 cavalry to dislodge this force. 
A severe march of ten days brought his men to the gap. He 
sent his cavalry along the main road to attract the enemy's at- 
tention, while he scrambled over the rocks and through the 
woods with his infantry and reached the outskirts of the rebel 
camp unobserved. A few volleys scattered them in full retreat. 
These operations cleared Eastern Kentucky and stopped the flank 
movement which was disturbing Buell's plan. 

This expedition was so successful and so fully proved the mil- 
itary capacity of Garfield that he was immediately promoted to 
the rank of brigadier-general, and the following incident proves 
how well he deserved his commission : While camping at Pike- 
ton heavy rains flooded Sandy Valley, until the brigade was cut 
off from supplies and were in danger of starvation. General 
Garfield took in the situation at once, and decided to go himself 
in search of a steamboat to bring food to his famished army. 
At last he found one in the Ohio, tied up near the mouth of the 
Big Sandy, waiting for the flood to subside. It was a dilapi- 
dated old boat, and the captain said that no boat could live in the 
flood that was pouring out of the Big Sandy, and besides there 



374 



LIVES OF OUK PRESIDENTS. 



was no channel to Pike ton, and a boat would have to go through 
the woods and over submerged fields to get there. Persuasion 
was of no avail, and the picture the general drew of his starving 
men met with no sympathetic response in the heart of the cau- 
tious boatman. 

44 Well," said Garfield, drawing his revolver, 44 that boat will 
carry food to my men or sink in the attempt." 

44 1 aint got no man that can pilot her up thar," said the cap- 
tain. 

44 Never mind the pilot. I'll steer the boat," replied Gar- 
field. 

The boat was then loaded with provisions, and with General 
Garfield at the wheel, putting in practice what little he had 
learned as a canal-boat piiot, they started to stem the flood, and 
for two days and a night he stuck to his post, running the boat 
over bushes and through the mud and bumping her against old 
logs until he could see the flags and baj^onets of his brigade on 
the hillside. With a wild shout the boys rushed pell-mell to 
the boat, and when they saw their commander in the pilot 
house, steering the ark of safety that was bringing food to the 
hungry, they raised such a hurrah as had never been heard in 
that locality before, and they did not believe that the man 
could be iicked by the rebels who had such grit as that. 

On the 23d of March General Garfield received orders from 
Buell to proceed to Louisville with his command, except a small 
force left at Piketon. When Garfield reached Louisville he 
found that Buell's army had left to join Grant at Pittsburgh 
Landing, on the Tennessee River. Following rapidly after, 
General Garfield reached Buell at Columbia, Tennessee, and 
was at once assigned to the command of the Twentieth Brigade. 
News of the rebel attack upon General Grant had already 
reached Buell, and the army was hastened with all speed to 
Savannah, on the Tennessee, where they embarked on boats for 
Pittsburgh Landing, reaching that place late in the afternoon 
of the day of the battle of Shiloh, where they found Grant's 
army pressed back to the river, his position being held with 
desperation against an overwhelming force of rebels. General 
Garfield's brigade was at once thrown into the action, and in that 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



375 



terrible afternoon's fight he did his work nobly in helping to 
save the army from a crushing defeat. The next day after the 
victory of Pittsburgh Landing was gained, Garfield with his 
brigade was sent forward with Sherman in pursuit of the enemy, 
who fled to their strong fortifications at Corinth. There Gen- 
eral Garfield took a brave and conspicuous part in the long and 
tedious siege which resulted in the evacuation of the place by 
the rebels. General Buell was then ordered to advance along 
the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, and for the 
purpose of transportation, General Garfield was sent in advance 
with his brigade to repair the railroad. * This order he executed 
to the letter, after which he went into camp at Huntsville, Ala- 
bama. At this place he was appointed president of a court 
martial to try Colonel Turchin for the conduct of his command 
at Athens, Alabama. Soon after this he was violently attacked 
with chills and fever, and was forced to return home on sick 
leave. While there he received orders to report to the Secre- 
tary of War at Washington as a member of the court-martial 
to try General Fitz John Porter. 

While at Washington he was appointed chief of staff to 
General Rosecrans. At this time General Rosecrans' inactivity 
was the cause of much complaint both on the part of General 
Halleck and the War Department. General Rosecrans gave as 
his most important reasons for his delay in moving against the 
enemy, the weakness of his cavalry force and the great military 
advantage of keeping Bragg in his front instead of driving him 
away to unite with Johnston and attack Grant at Vicksburg. 
At first General Garfield thought Rosecrans was right, but as 
soon as he became familiar with the situation and could exer- 
cise his excellent judgment, he favored an attack upon Bragg, 
and urged Rosecrans to make it. To satisfy himself of the 
views entertained by his generals, he requested in writing from 
them their opinions in reference to an immediate or early 
attack upon the enemy. The entire seventeen generals who 
gave their opinions coincided with General Rosecrans. These 
letters General Garfield reviewed in a strong argument against 
them, which has been pronounced the ablest military document 
submitted by a chief of staff during the war. This induced 



376 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



General Rosecrans to make the move from Murfeesboro 
toward Bragg's strongly intrenched position at Tullahoma, 
which resulted in forcing the rebel general to evacuate his 
position and retreat to Chattanooga, leaving sixteen hundred 
prisoners, six cannon and a large quantity of stores in posses- 
sion of the Union forces. A remarkable incident connected 
with this advance is that the seventeen generals of Rosecrans' 
command sent General Crittenden to headquarters to say to 
General Garfield that they understood that the movement was 
his work, and that they wished him to understand that it was 
a rash and fatal move, for which he would be held responsible. 
It is to be regretted that he could not have had the opportunity 
of being held responsible for more such movements against the 
enemy. 

General Garfield next engaged in the battle of Chickamauga, 
in which he wrote every order except the fatal one which lost 
the battle. Had he written this, the unfortunate mistake of 
Wood in interpreting the order would have been prevented, and 
had Garfield commanded the army, it is probable that Chicka- 
mauga would have been a victory instead of a disaster. 

On the 16th of August Rosecrans moved his army against 
Chattanooga, which he endeavored to turn and cut Bragg's 
communication. This intention the rebel commander thwarted 
by evacuating Chattanooga and falling back toward Dalton. 
Never doubting but that Bragg was in sincere retreat, Rose- 
crans pushed vigorously after him, and divided his army for 
the purpose of a more successful pursuit. Bragg's movement, 
however, was only a feint, and as soon as he had formed a 
junction with Longstreet, he turned fiercely on Rosecrans' sur- 
prised army to crush it. Such was the unfortunate position 
of the army, and such the fatal mistake of General Wood, that 
nothing saved the Union forces from being crushed but the 
volunteer movement of General Garfield in going to General 
Thomas and giving him information of the position of the rebel 
army and the advantage he could take of it to save his division 
and protect the others which had been thrown into confusion. 
Even this could not have saved the army had not General 
Granger's command of Steadman's Division arrived just in time 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



377 



to close a gap through which Longs treet was pouring his rebel 
troops to the rear of our army. This enabled General Thomas 
to hold the enemy in check. Here the rebels charged again 
and again, with our artillery pouring grape and canister into 
their ranks, and at last a bayonet charge of Thomas' brave 
soldiers, when they were entirely out of ammunition, drove 
the enemy away for the night and saved our army. 

General Garfield fell back with the army to Chattanooga, and 
was of invaluable service in organizing it for the siege which 
the rebels laid to the place. 

For his conduct at Chickamaugn Garfield was made a major- 
general. A military critic, writing of his career soon after the 
close of the war, said : "As a chief of staff Garfield was un- 
rivaled. There, as elsewhere, he was ready to accept the 
gravest responsibilities in following his convictions. The bent 
of his mind was aggressive ; his judgment of purely military 
matters was good ; his papers on the Tullahoma campaign 
will stand a monument of his courage and his far-reaching, 
soldierly sagacity ; and his conduct at Chick amauga will 
never be forgotten by a nation of brave men." 

This closed General Garfield's military career in the field. In 
>the summer of 1862, when everybody supposed the war was 
going to end in a few months, a number of officers who had 
gained distinction in the field were taken up at home and 
elected to Congress. Among them was General Garfield, who 
was nominated by the Republicans of Joshua R. Giddings' old 
district while with his brigade in Kentucky. He had no 
knowledge of any such movement in his behalf, and when he 
accepted the nomination he did so in the belief that the Rebell- 
ion would be subdued before he would be called upon to take 
his seat in the House, in December, 1863. His nomination was 
partly the result of his military fame and partly of a desire on 
the part of the friends of Giddings to defeat the man who had 
pushed him out of Congress four years before. Garfield's 
popularity made him the most available man in the district for 
this purpose. He was elected by a majority of over ten thou- 
sand. He continued his military service up to the day of the 
meeting of Congress. Even then he seriously thought of re- 



378 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



signing his position as a Representative rather than his major- 
general's commission, and would have done so had not Presi- 
dent Lincoln made a personal appeal to him to enter the House 
and give the administration the help of his military experience 
in passing measures for filling up the army and pushing the 
war to a conclusion. Had he remained in the field he would 
have bad the command of a corps in Thomas' army. 

He was appointed on the Military Committee, under the chair- 
manship of General Schenck, and was of great service in carry- 
ing through the measures which recruited the armies during 
the closing years of the war. At the same time he began a 
course of severe study of the subjects of finance and political 
economy, going home every evening to his modest lodgings in 
Thirteenth street with his arms full of books borrowed from 
the Congressional Library. He soon took rank in the House as 
a ready and forcible debater, a hard worker, and a diligent, 
practical legislator. His superior knowledge used to offend 
some of his less learned colleagues at first. They thought him 
bookish and pedantic until they found how solid and useful was 
his store of knowledge, and how pertinent to the business in 
hand were the drafts he made upon it. His genial personal 
ways soon made him many warm friends in Congress. The men 
of brains in both houses and in the departments were not long 
in discovering that here was a fresh, strong intellectual 'orce 
that was destined to make its mark upon the politics of the 
country. They sought his acquaintance, and before he had been 
long in Washington he had the advantage of the best society of 
the Capital. 

As a leader in the House he was more cautious and less dash- 
ing than Blaine, and his judicial turn of mind made him too 
prone to look for two sides of a question for him to be an effi- 
cient partisan. When the issue fairly touched his convictions, 
however, he became thoroughly aroused and struck tremendous 
blows. Blaine's tactics were to continually harass the enemy 
by sharp-shooting surprises and picket firing. Garfield waited 
for an opportunity to deliver a pitched battle, and his generalship 
was shown to best advantage when the fight was a fair one and 
waged on grounds where each party thought itself strongest. 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



379 



Then his solid shot of argument were exceedingly effective. On 
the stump, Garfield was one of the very best orators in the Re- 
publican party. He had a good voice, an air of evident sincerity, 
great clearness and vigor of statement, and a way of knitting 
his arguments together so as to make a speech deepen its im- 
pression on the mind of the hearer until the climax was reached. 

With the single exception of 1867, when he made a tour in 
Europe, he did hard work on the stump for the Republican 
party in every campaign after he entered Congress. His services 
were in demand in all parts of the country. He usually re- 
served half his time for the Ohio canvass, and gave the other 
half to other States. The November election usually found him 
worn and haggard with travel and speaking in the open air, but 
his robust constitution always carried him through, and after a 
few weeks' rest on his farm, he would appear in Washington 
refreshed and ready for the duties of the session. 

When chairman of the Appropriations Committee, General 
Garfield used to work fifteen hours a day. Of his industry and 
studious habits a great deal might be said, but a single illustra- 
tion will suffice. Once during the busiest part of a very busy 
session at Washington, a friend found him in his library behind 
a big barricade of books. This was no unusual sight, but when 
the visitor glanced at the volumes he saw they were all different 
editions of Horace, or books relating to that poet. " I find I 
am overworked and need recreation," said the General. " Now, 
my theory is that the best way to rest the mind is not to let it be 
idle, but to put it at something quite outside of the ordinary 
line of its employment. So I am resting by learning all the 
Congressional Library can show about Horace, and the various 
editions and translations of his poems," 

General Garfield was the possessor of two homes, and his 
family migrated twice a year. Finding how unsatisfactory life 
was in hotels and boarding-houses, he bought a lot of ground 
on the corner of Thirteenth and First streets, in Washington, and 
with money borrowed of a friend built a plain, substantial 
three-story house. A wing was extended afterward to make 
room for the fast-growing library. The money was repaid in 
time, and was probably saved in great part from what would 



380 



LIVES OE 1 OtTR ^RESIDENTS. 



otherwise have gone to landlords. The children grew up in 
pleasant home surroundings, and the house became a centre of 
much simple and cordial hospitality. The little cottage at 
Hiram was sold, and for a time the only residence the Garfields 
had in his district was a little summer house he built on Little 
Mountain, a bold elevation in Lake County, which commands 




MR, GARFIELD'S RESIDENCE AT JIENTOR, OHIO. 



a view of thirty miles of rich farming country stretched along 
the shore of Lake Erie. Afterward he bought a farm at Men- 
tor, in the same county, lying on both sides of the Lake Shore 
and Michigan Southern Railroad. Here his family spent all the 
time when he was free from his duties in Washington. The 
original farm-house was a low, old-fashioned story-and a-half 
building, and its limited accomodations were supplemented by 
numerous outbuildings, one of which General Garfield used 
for ofE.ce and library purposes. He had the house enlarged 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



881 



and remodelled, so that it now has a handsome modern look. 
The farm contains about 160 acres of excellent land in a high 
state of cultivation, and General Garfield found a recreation, 
of which he never tired, in directing the field work and mak- 
ing improvements in the buildings, fences and orchards. Cleve- 
land is only twenty-five miles away; there is a post-office and a 
railway station within half a mile, and the pretty county-seat 
town of Painesville is but five miles distant. One of the pleas- 
ures of summer life on the Garfield farm was a drive of two 
miles through the woods to the lake shore and a bath in the 
breakers. Visitors who came unannounced often found the 
General working in the hay -field with his boys, with his broad 
genial face sheltered from the sun under a big chip hat, and 
his trousers tucked in a pair of cowhide boots. He was a thor- 
ough countryman by instinct. The smell of the good brown 
earth, the lowing of cattle, the perfume of the new-cut grass, 
and all the sights and sounds of farm life, were dear to him 
from early associations. 

In person, General Garfield was six feet high, broad- 
shouldered, and strongly built. He had an unusually large head, 
that seemed to be three-fourths forehead, light brown hair and 
beard, touched with gray, large light blue eyes, a prominent 
nose and full cheeks. He dressed plainly, was fond of broad- 
rimmed slouch hats and stout boots, ate heartily, cared nothing 
for luxurious living, was a great reader of good books on all 
subjects, was thoroughly temperate in all respects save in that 
of brain work, and was devoted to his wife and children. 
Among men he was genial, approachable, companionable, and 
a remarkably entertaining talker. His mind was a vast store- 
house of facts, reminiscences and anecdotes. 

General Garfield had scarcely entered Congress before he 
delivered a speech so able and convincing that his popularity 
a,nd influence as a party leader were at once recognized. This 
speech was in reply to one delivered by Mr . Alexander Long, 
Eepresentative from Ohio, proposing the recognition of the 
Southern Confederacy. This speech aroused to indignation 
the sentiments of every Union-loving Representative on the 
floor of the House. At the close of the speech General Garfield 



382 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



sprang to his feet and delivered such a spirited, able and 
scathing rebuke that there was nothing left of Long's argu- 
ments but the memory of their dishonor. The following are 
among some of the final passages of General G-arfield's speech : 

" Mr. Chairman, I am reminded by the occurrences of this afternoon of 
two characters in the war of the Revolution as compared with two others of 
the war of to-day. The first was Lord Fairfax, who dwelt near the Potomac, 
a few miles from us. When the great contest was opened between the 
mother country and the colonies, Lord Fairfax, after a protracted struggle 
with his own heart, decided that he must go with the mother country. He 
gathered his mantle about him and went over grandly and solemnly. 

"There was another man who cast in his lot with the struggling colonists 
and continued with them until the war was well nigh ended. In an hour of 
darkness that just preceded the glory of the morning he hatched the treason 
to surrender forever all that had been gained to the enemies of his country. 
Benedict Arnold was the man ! 

" Fairfax and Arnold find their parallel in the struggle to-day 

" When this war began many good men stood hesitating and doubting what 
they ought to do. Robert E. Lee sat in his house across the ri ver here doubt- 
ing and delaying, and going off at last almost tearfully to join the army of his 
State. He reminds one, in some respects, of Lord Fairfax, the sturdy royal- 
ist of the Revolution. 

" But now, when tens of thousands of brave souls have gone up to God 
under the shadow of the flag, when thousands more maimed and shattered 
in the contest are sadly waiting the deliverance of death ; now, when three 
years of terrific warfare have raged over us ; when our armies have pushed 
the Rebellion back over mountains and rivers and crowded it into narrow 
limits until a wall of fire girds it; now, when the uplifted hand of a majestic 
people is about to hurl the bolts of its conquering power upon the Rebellion: 
now, in the quiet of this hall, hatched in the lowest depths of a similar dark 
treason, there rises a Benedict Arnold and proposes to surrender all up, body 
and spirit, the nation and the flag, its genius and its honor, now and forever, 
to the accursed traitors to our country ! * * * * 

" Suppose the policy of the gentleman were adopted to-day. Let the order 
go forth ! Sound the ' recall ' on your bugles, and let it ring forth from 
Texas to the far Atlantic, and tell the armies to come back. Call the 
victorious legions back over the battle-fields of blood, forever now dis- 
graced. Call them back over the territory which they have conquered. 
Call them back and let the minions of secession chase them with derision 
and jeers as they come. And tell them that that man across the aisle, 
from the free State of Ohio, gave birth to the monstrous proposition. 

" Mr. Chairman, if such a word should be sent forth through the armies 
of the Union, the wave of terrible vengeance that would sweep back over 
this land could never find a parallel in the records of history. Almost in the 
moment of final victory the ' recall ' is sounded by a craven people not 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



383 



deserving freedom ! We ought every mau to be made a slave should we 
sanction such a sentiment." 

In 1864 General Garfield was renominated without opposition 
and re-elected by an increased majority. He served on the 
Committee of Ways and Means, which was very much in the 
line of his tastes and studies. He favored a moderate protective 
tariff and a steady reduction of taxation and government 
expenditures. In 1866 a few of his constituents living in the 
Mahoning Valley, an iron-producing district, opposed his 
renomination on the ground that he did not favor as high a 
tariff on iron as they wanted. The convention was overwhelm- 
ingly on his side, however, and in after years he succeeded in 
convincing his opponents that a moderate duty, affording a 
sufficient margin for protection, was better for their interests 
than a high prohibitory rate. In his third term he was chair- 
man of the Committee on Military Affairs, and had plenty of 
work in remodeling the regular Army and looking after the 
demands of the discharged soldiers for pay and bounty, of 
which many had been deprived by the red-tape decisions of the 
Government accounting officers. 

It was during this session that he delivered his sublime ora- 
tion on the occasion of the first anniversary of the death of 
Abraham Lincoln. Having been selected to make the motion 
for an adjournment of Congress for the day, and in speaking 
on the motion, he said : 

" 1 desire to move that this House do now adjourn. And before the vote 
upon that motion is taken, I desire to say a few words. This day, Mr. 
Speaker, will be sadly memorable so long as this nation shall endure, which 
God grant may be till the last syllable of recorded time, when the volume of 
human history shall be sealed and delivered to the omnipotent judge. In 
all future time on the recurrence of this day, I doubt not that the citizens of 
this Republic shall meet in solemn assembly to reflect on the life and char- 
acter of Abraham Lincoln, and the awful tragic event of April 14, 1865, an 
event unparalleled in the history of nations, certainly unparalleled in our own. 
It is eminently proper that this House should this day place upon its records 
a memorial of that event. The last five years have been marked by wonder- 
ful developments of individual character. Thousands of our people before 
unknown to fame have taken their places in history, crowned with immortal 
honors. In thousands of humble homes are dwelling heroes and patriots 



384 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



whose Dames shall never die. But greatest among all these great develop- 
ments were the character and fame of Abraham Lincoln, whose loss the na- 
tion still deplores. His character is aptly described in the words of England's 
great laureate, written thirty years ago, in which he traces the upward steps 
of some 

" ' Divinely gifted man, 
Whose life in low estate began, 
And on a simple village green,* 

" 1 Who breaks his birth's invidious bar, 
And grasps the skirts of happy chance, 
And breasts the blow of circumstance, 
And grapples with his evil star; 

" ' Who makes by force his merit known, 
And lives to clutch the golden keys, 
To mold a mighty State's decrees, 
And shape the whisper of the throne; 

14 1 And moving up from high to higher, 
Becomes on Fortune's crowning slope 
The pillar of a people's hope, 
The centre of a world's desire." 

" Such a life and character will be treasured forever as the sacred posses- 
sion of the American people and of mankind, In the great drama of the 
Rebellion there were two acts. The first was the war with its battles and 
sieges, victories and defeats, its sufferings and tears. Teat act was closing 
one year ago to night, and, just as the curtain was lifting on the second and 
final act^the restoration of peace and liberty— just as the curtain was rising 
on new characters and new events, the evil spirit of the Rebellion, in the fury 
of despair, nerved and directed the hand of the assassin to strike down the 
chief character in both. It was no one man who killed Abraham Lincoln ; it 
was the embodied spirit of treason and slavery, inspired with fearful, 
despairing hate, that struck him down in the moment of the nation's suprem- 
est joy. 

" Ah, sir, there are times in the history of men when they stand so near 
the veil that separates mortal from the immortal, time from eternity, and 
men from their God, that they can almost hear the beatings and feel the 
pulsations of the heart of the Infinite. Through such a time Ins this nation 
passed. When two hundred and fifty thousand brave spirits passed from the 
field of hpnor through that thin veil to the presence of God, and when at last 
its parting folds admitted the martyr President to the company of the dead 
heroes of the Republic, the nation stood so near the veil that the whispers of 
God were heard by the children of men. Awe-stricken by His voice, the 
American people knelt in tearful reverence, and made a solemn covenant 
with him and with each other, that their nation should be saved from its 
enemies— that all its glories should be restored ; and on the ruins of slavery 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



385 



and treason the temple of freedom and justice should be built, and should 
survive forever. It rem? iris for us, consecrated by the great event, and 
under a covenant with God, to keep that faith— to go forward in the great 
work until it shall be completed. Following the lead of that great man, and 
obeying the behests of God, let us remember that— 

ut He hath sounded forth a trumpet that shall never call retreat ; 
He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat ; 
Be swift, my soul, to answer him; be jubilant, my feet ; 
For God is inarching on V " 

Again re-elected in 1868, General Garfield was appointed 
chairman of the Banking and Currency Committee, and during 
the same Congress did most of the hard work of the Committee 
on the Ninth Census. His financial views, always sound, and 
based on the firm foundation of honest money and unsullied 
national honor, had now become strengthened by his studies 
and investigations, and he was recognized as the best authority 
in the House on the great subjects of the debt and the currency. 
His record in the legislation concerning these subjects is with- 
out a flaw. No man in Congress made a more consistent and 
unwavering fight against the paper-money delusions that flour- 
ished during the decade following the war, and in favor of 
specie payments and the strict fulfillment of the nation's obliga- 
tions to its creditors. His speeches became the financial gospel 
of the Republican party. 

In 1871 General Garfield was made chairman of the Commit- 
tee on Appropriations, and held the post until the Democrats 
got control of the House in 1875. In that important position 
he largely reduced the expenditures of the government and 
thoroughly reformed the system of estimates and appropria- 
tions, providing for closer accountability on the part of those 
who spend the public money, and a clear knowledge on the part 
of those who vote it, of what it is used for. He was one of the 
committee sent to Louisiana to report on the political situation, 
with a view to reconstruction. In 1876 he was appointed one of 
the Commission to decide the contested Presidential election. 

We now come to a period of still greater prominence in the 
life of General Garfield. On the 2d of June, 1880, the National 
Republican Convention met at Chicago to nominate candidates 



386 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



for President and Vice-President. General Garfield attended 
this convention as a delegate from Ohio to present the name of 
Hon. John Sherman, of Ohio, for the votes of the Convention. 
It became evident that the great battle was to be fought 
between the champions of Grant and Blaine. The breach be- 
tween the factions was widening every hour, when General 
Garfield arose, and, as soon as he could be heard after the storm 
of applause, nominated the Hon. John Sherman as an unob- 
jectionable man, in whom all the excellences of Republican 
qualities were blended, and upon whom all could unite. Dur- 
ing his abJe speech the shout arose, " Nominate Garfield." At 
this time General Garfield was saying : 

" We want a man whose life and opinions embody all the achievements of 
which I have spoken. We want a man who, standing on a mountain height, 
sees all the achievements of our past history, and carries in his heart the 
memory of all its glorious deeds, and who, looking forward, prepares to meet 
the labor and the dangers to come. We want one who will act in no spirit 
of unkindness against those we lately met in battle. The Republican party 
offers to our brethren of the South the olive branch of peace, and wishes 
them to return to brotherhood on this supreme condition, that it shall be 
admitted forever and forevermore that we were right and they were wrong. 
On that supreme condition we meet them as brethren, and no other. We 
ask them to share with us the blessings and honors of this great Republic." 

It became evident soon after this speech that General Garfield 
was the unobjectionable man who possessed all these qualities 
and who could unite the warring fractions. 

General Garfield's nomination for President by the Chicago 
Convention was unsolicited and unexpected by him. He was 
not a candidate, and did not mean to become one. When it 
became evident that neither Grant, Blaine nor Sherman could 
be nominated, and the dead-lock had continued for thirty-three 
ballots, the Wisconsin delegation voted for Garfield. He arose 
and protested against the use of his name without his consent. 
In spite of his refusal to be a candidate, hundreds of delegates 
turned to him as the man for the emergency. On the 35th bal- 
lot he received 50 votes, and on the 36th he was nominated by 
a large majority over all others. His long and consistent record, 
his wise counsels in favor of harmony in the midst of the 
stormy scenes at Chicago, his manly independence in advocat- 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



387 



ing what he thought the right course, and his national fame 
as a brave, cool-headed, patriotic, conservative Republican 
leader, convinced the convention that he was the man to head 
the ticket. The wildest enthusiasm was evidenced when it was 
known that he had received the nomination. 

The usual exciting campaign followed, and at the election 
which took place on the 2d of November, 1880, General Gar- 
field was elected by a majority of 59 votes in the Electoral Col- 
lege over General Hancock, the Democratic candidate. 

After the election and before his inauguration General Gar- 
field remained at his home at Mentor, where, although besieged 
with a constant throng of visitors, he was comparatively free 
from the horde of office seekers and applicants for various official 
favors who swarm around the President in Washington like 
hungry flies. But at last his home had to be abandoned for the 
noisy Capital, and leaving Mentor on the 1st of March, he arrived 
on the 2d, and two days later was inaugurated under apparently 
the most auspicious circumstances. 

Immediately after his inauguration President Garfield sent 
to the Senate, then in extra session, the names selected as 
members of his Cabinet, which were as follows : Secretary of 
State, James G. Blaine, of Maine ; Secretary of the Treasury, 
William Windom, of Minnesota ; Secretary of War, Robert T. 
Lincoln, of Illinois ; Secretary of the Navy, W. H. Hunt, of 
Louisiana ; Secretary of the Interior, S. J. Kirkwood, of Iowa ; 
Attorney-General, Wayne McVeagh, of Pennsylvania ; Post- 
master-General, Thomas L. James, of New York. 

It was soon realized that President Garfield's administration 
was not destined to be a tranquil one. The Republican party 
was arrayed in factions, one sustaining the President and the 
other joining the banner of Senator Roscoe Conkling, and being 
known as the " Stalwarts." This split in the party was caused 
by Senators Conkling and Piatt, of New York, assuming to 
dictate to the President whom he should appoint to the Collector- 
ship of the Port of New York. Upon the refusal of the Presi- 
dent to yield to their dictation, Conkling and Piatt resigned 
their seats in the Senate, carrying with them the " Stalwart" 
faction of the party. 



388 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Among these "Stalwarts" was a miserable, ambitious, re- 
vengeful wretch, named Charles J. Guiteau, who, having done 
some slight but valueless services for the party during the 
Presidential canvass, presumed upon it to demand an important 
foreign mission. His ability, morals and position in society 
were so low that he was scarcely above a vagabond, and was 
unworthy of either encouragement or trust. It was with most 
presumptuous bigotry that he ever entertained the hope of any 
position, and when he had resigned that, there was not a place 
in the gift of the President low enough for such a man. With 
cruel fiendishness he resolved upon revenge, and only waited 
his opportunity to accomplish his murderous purpose. This 
opportunity occurred on the 2d of July. President Garfield 
started to leave Washington for a tour in New Engl and, intend- 
ing first to go to Long Branch for Mrs. Garfield, who was to 
accompany him on the projected trip. A party of friends, who 
were to accompany him on the journey, were awaiting his 
arrival at the Baltimore and Potomac depot, at which the Presi- 
dent soon after arrived in company with Mr. Blaine, who came 
to see him off. 

Just as the President had entered the ladies ? waiting-room, 
Guiteau stealthily approached him from behind, and drawing a 
heavy revolver, suddenly fired two shots at the President, one 
taking effect in his arm and the other in his back, shattering a 
rib and carrying away part of the spine. 

The murderous attack was so sudden and Unexpected that at 
first those present did not fully realize the circumstances, but 
in a few moments the greatest excitement prevailed, which 
rapidly spread over the city and from thence over the entire 
country, until the effect could only be equaled by that which 
followed the news of the assassination of President Lincoln. 

President Garfield immediately fell, and lay upon the floor 
with the blood streaming from both wounds, while Guiteau 
rushed to the door, where he was seemed by a policeman. In a 
few moments a mattress was obtained, and the President, who 
was entirely conscious, was placed upon it and as quickly as 
possible taken back to the White House, and a telegram was 
hastily sent to Long Branch for Mrs. Garfield, while Dr. Bliss 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



389 



and other eminent surgeons did everything in professional skill 
that could benefit the wounded man. 

It was evident, as soon as the extent of the wound was ascer- 
tained, that the President had scarcely a hope of recovery, but 
that slender chance President Garfield, in his wonderful vitali- 
ty, clung to with the greatest fortitude, while day after day, 
and even minute by minute, a tearful, agonized nation waited 
for news and prayed for his recovery, hoping against hope. 
Never before in the history of the world was there a parallel 
case. In that of President Lincoln the first news flashed over 
the wires was of his death, and it was all over, with no hope ; 
but as the days passed on and President Garfield still lived, and 
the prayers of the nation still went up, the people looked with 
faith for an answer to their supplications. 

Two months of terrible suffering to the President passed dur- 
ing the fiercest heat of the summer, and then with the tender- 
est care the patient sufferer was removed to Long Branch to a 
seaside cottage, where it was hoped the pure breeze from the 
ocean would add its healing influences to nature's efforts. 
There the sympathies of the world gathered around the suf- 
fering martyr, and from every land came messages of anxious 
inquiry and condolence and encouragement. There gradually 
the mind and memory of the President withdrew itself from 
thoughts of the honor of his high position and centred upon his 
family, and went back with sweet longings to the dear, quiet 
home that he was never to see again. He was dying slowly, 
but surely, and he realized it. 44 1 am not afraid to die," said 
he ; " I only want to meet all my family together." 

Eighty days of suffering and suspense had passed, and then, 
on the 19th of September, it was seen that President Garfield's 
life was going out. The light was flickering in the socket. An 
hour or so more was all of life and earth left to him. At mid- 
night he was rapidly failing, and with a terrible pain at his 
heart he sank into a stupor from which he never revived. 
" Twelve o'clock," and all would soon be well with James A. 
Garfield, beyond the sorrows and the pains of earth. A half- 
hour passed, and surrounded by his family and physicians, and 
a number of statesmen, his life went out. 



390 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Through the remainder of the night bells began tolling all 
over the land, and by the next day the news had reached the 
principal cities and countries of the civilized world, while every 
city and hamlet throughout our broad land was draped in the 
sombre emblems of mourning, and the deepest grief over- 
shadowed the land. 

After his remains were conveyed from Long Branch to 
Washington they lay in state at the Capitol for two days, while 
the great throng of sorrowing people passed by to gaze on the 
pale, wasted face of the dead President. After the public had 
been permitted to view the remains, one sacred hour was de- 
voted to the family, that they might be alone with their dead. 
After this followed the funeral services, which were grand in 
their very simplicity, accompanied as they were by the impres- 
sive circumstances and surroundings ; the beautiful catafalque, 
the decorative draperies of the rotunda hall of the Capitol, 
and the august assemblage of the nation's great men, made it a 
scene never to be forgotten. 

The funeral services were performed by ministers of the Church 
of the Disciples, of which President Garfield had been a member, 
after which the procession took up the line of march to the de- 
pot in the following order : Two battalions of District of Co- 
lumbia militia ; two companies of United States Marines ; four 
companies of the United States Second Artillery ; Light Bat- 
tery Company A, United States Artillery ; Grand Army of the 
Republic ; Boys in Blue ; Washington Commanderies Knights 
Templars and Beausant Commandery Knights Templars of 
Baltimore. These were followed by the hearse, after which 
came a long line of carriages, in which were the wife and family 
of President Garfield, ex-Presidents Grant and Hayes, President 
Arthur, Secretary Blaine and other Cabinet Ministers, and rela- 
tives ; officers of the Executive Mansion ; the Diplomatic 
Corps ; Chief Justice Waite and Associate Justices ; Senators, 
Members of the House, Governors of States and Territories, and 
a great line of other important officials and distinguished per- 
sons. 

Arriving at the depot, the coffin, still bearing the Queen of 
England's beautiful wreath, was borne to the special train be- 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



tween the generals and the admirals of the Army and the Navy, 
and the double ranks of soldiers and marines, and in a few 
moments more the train was bearing away the dead to its last 
resting place at Cleveland. 

All along the route the demonstrations of respect and mourn- 
ing were most impressive. Church bells tolled, flags were at 
half-mast and the drapery of mourning covered almost every 
house, while a continuous throng stretched along the entire 
route of the train. Language cannot convey an adequate im- 
pression of the grand reception extended to the funeral party at 
Cleveland, where the remains were to be interred. There the 
final ceremonies were beautiful and impressive. The grandest 
preparations had been made for the funeral services, and a 
pavillion had been erected in Monumental Park for the recep- 
tion of the remains. Here they were borne in an immense pro- 
cession, and lay in state for a day and night, to be viewed by 
the eager throng. This structure was one of the most beauti- 
ful ever erected in the country, and the decorations were most 
magnificent. From the centre of the roof rose a gilt spire, on 
which stood a figure of an angel twenty-four feet high, while 
shields and flags and drapery and hanging baskets of flowers 
ornamented every column and arch and angle of the structure. 

On the 26th of September, at 10:30 A. M., the funeral services 
were begun by the singing of Beethoven's " Funeral Hymn." 
Then Bishop Bedel, of the Episcopal diocese of Ohio, read pas- 
sages from the Scriptures. This was followed by an earnest 
and impressive prayer by the Rev. Mr. Houghton, of the First 
M. E. Church, after which the Rev. Isaac Errett, of Cincinnati, 
delivered the funeral sermon from the text, " And the archers 
shot King Josiah, and the King said to his servants, Have me 
away, for I am sore wounded." 

" There was never," said he, " a mourning in all the world like 
this mourning. I am not speaking extravagantly, for I am told 
it is the result of calculations carefully made, that certainly not 
less than 300,000,000 of the human race share in the sadness 
and the lamentation, the sorrow and the mourning that belong 
to this occasion here to-day. It is the chill shadow of a calam- 
ity that has extended itself into every home in all this land, and 



392 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



into every heart, and that has projected itself over vast seas and 
oceans into distant lands and awakened the sincerest and pro- 
foundest sympathies with us in the hearts of the good of all 
nations and among all people. 

* * # * # * * 

" James A. Garfield went through his whole public life with- 
out surrendering for a single moment his Christian integrity, 
his moral integrity or his love for the spiritual. 

" He passed all the conditions of virtuous life between the log 
cabin in Cuyahoga and the White House, and in that wonder- 
ful, rich and varied experience, still moving up from higher to 
higher, he has touched every heart in all this land at some 
point or other, and he became the representative of all hearts 
and lives in this land, and not only the teacher, but the inter- 
preter of all virtues; for he knew their wants and he knew their 
condition, and he established legitimate ties of brotherhood 
with every man with whom he came in contact." 

After continuing this most beautiful and touching tribute, he 
concluded: " I have discharged now the solemn covenant trust 
reposed in me many years ago, in harmony with a friendship 
that has never known a cloud, a confidence that has never 
trembled, and a love that has never changed. Farewell, my 
friend and brother ! Thou hast fought a good fight. Thou 
hast finished thy course. Thou hast kept the faith. Hence- 
forth there is laid up for thee a crown of righteousness, which 
the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to thee on that day; 
and not unto thee only, but unto all them also who love his 
appearing." 

The sermon was followed by the reading of General Gar- 
field's favorite hymn, the " Reaper's Song," which was sung by 
the Cleveland vocal society, after which Dr. Pomeroy delivered 
the final prayer, and the procession took up its solemn line of 
march to the cemetery, with a most imposing array of mili- 
tary and distinguished citizens. At the grave the Rev. J. H. 
Jones, Chaplain of the Forty-second Ohio, General Garfield's 
regiment, made a beautiful address, and after other solemn and 
appropriate services the body was laid in its final resting 
place. 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



393 



So died James A. Garfield, the sturdy canal boatman, the 
poor and struggling student and tutor, the gallant soldier, the 
eminent legislator, and the second martyred President of the 
United States. 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



Chester Alan Arthur was born in the town of Fairfield, Frank- 
lin County, Vermont, on the 5th day of October, 1830. He was 
the elder of two sons ; he had four sisters older and two 
younger than himself. His father, the Rev. Dr. William 
Arthur, was a Baptist clergyman, who came to the United 
States from Bally mena, County Antrim, Ireland, when only 
eighteen years old, and died at an advanced age in Newton- 
ville, near Albany, on October 27th, 1875. Dr. Arthur was a 
finely- educated man ; a graduate of Belfast University, Ire- 
land. For several years he published The Antiquarian, a jour- 
nal devoted, as its title indicates, to antiquarian research. A 
work of his own, " Family Names," is still highly esteemed by 
the collectors of that kind of literature. While devoting him- 
self to literature, he yet faithfully fulfilled all the duties of his 
special calling. He was pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church, 
Albany ; and also of Baptist churches at Bennington, Hines- 
burg, Fairfield and Williston, in Vermont ; and at York, Perry, 
Greenwich, Schenectady, Lansingburg, Hoosic, West Troy and 
Newtonville, in New York State. The second son, William 
Arthur, highly distinguished himself in the Union army dur- 
ing the War of the Rebellion. 

A letter from Saratoga, printed in the Rutland (Vt.) Herald, 
gives some interesting particulars of an event that happened 
soon after the arrival of Dr. Arthur at Fairfield : 

"Nearly fifty years ago the writer, then a small boy, lived in a remote 
district in the town of Fairfield, Vermont, which joins St. Albans on the 
east. I well remember the advent to that neighborhood of a Baptist preacher 
of Irish birth, but of remarkable ability and eloquence. He drew audiences 
unheard of before in that rustic community, where there was a flourishing 
Baptist Church. He at first preached in the district school house, which 
soon failed to hold half of his audience. Finally a spacious neighboring barn 



396 



UVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



was pressed into service as a place of worship. I well remember the ap- 
pearance of that audience. The women were mostly seated in improvised 
seats of slabs upon the barn floor. The deacons and older men occupied the 
stable, the young folks climbed upon the hay-mow, while certain adventu- 
rous boys perched aloft among the beams. To this audience that eloquent and 
well-educated young minister preached with great effect, and many conver- 
sions were the result of his labors. A meeting-house was soon built, in which 
he afterward preached. On moving his family to the place of his labors, 
there was no vacant house suitable to receive them; the large families of the 
farmers filled all desirable tenements. The minister, with his wife and four 
young daughters, moved into a small log cabin, only a few rods from the 
humble dwelling of my parents, to remain there till a small but comfortable 
parsonage should be built across the way. One night my mother was mys- 
teriously absent, and our anxious inquiries concerning her whereabouts were 
answered gravely but evasively by our father, but she returned in the morn- 
ing to the care of her own little flock, her face radiant with smiles, and 
astonished us with the intelligence that a new boy had been sent to the 
minister's during the night. She said that the reverend gentleman quite 
forgot the dignity of his office, and nearly danced up and down with wild 
delight when my grandmother informed him that 'it was a boy,' and that 
boy, born in that humble log cabin, is now the President of the United 
States. Last summer I had the curiosity to identify the site of the old log 
cabin where General Arthur was born. It was in the northeast portion of 
Fairfield, about a mile east of the old brick meeting-house, so long a conspic- 
uous feature in the landscape, and where his father, the Rev. Dr. Arthur, 
preached. In a rugged pasture on the hillside only a slight hollow marks 
the spot where stood the log cabin in which the distinguished son of Ver- 
mont first saw the light, more than fifty years ago. The old parsonage 
where he spent his early childhood is still standing." 

Chester A. Arthur found his father's fine knowledge of the 
Latin and Greek classics of great advantage to him when he 
came to prepare for college. His preparation first began in 
Union Village, now Greenwich, a beautiful village of Washing- 
ton County, New York, and was concluded at the grammar 
school at Schenectady. 

The Hon. James I. Lourie, now a prominent lawyer of 
Greenwich, who formerly taught in the academy there, in a 
letter to the Editor of the Leavenworth Times, recounting the 
subsequent career of some of his pupils, says : 

" Another scholar of those days, though only about twelve years of age, 
was Chester A. Arthur. His eyes were dark and brilliant, and his physical 
system finely formed. He was frank and open in his manners and genial in 
his disposition. Even at that early age he was a favorite with all who knew 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



397 



him. He was full of life and animation. His active abilities, his courage 
and his strength of will, made him a leader among his companions. ODe of 
his sisters, an excellent and beautiful girl, died here at the old Baptist par- 
sonage where the Rev. Dr. Arthur resided. He afterward graduated at 
Union College, and settled in the city of New York, and distinguished him- 
self as a leading and reliable statesman. A few years ago, while he was 
Collector of the Port of New York, he came here to visit his old home. He 
was exceedingly interested in all the familiar places in and around the vil- 
lage, and especially in the parsonage. He went through every room, from 
the cellar to the roof of the old, time-worn building. He met his early 
friends with great cordiality. There is no more genial, reliable, noble- 
hearted man in the State of New York than Chester A. Arthur." 

Thanks to his fine training young Arthur took a high position 
in Union College, which he entered in 1845, when only fifteen 
years old. Every year of his college course he was declared to be 
one of those who had taken "maximum honors ;" and at the 
conclusion of his college course, out of a class of more than one 
hundred members, he was one of six who were elected members 
of the Phi Beta Kappa Soc iety, the condition of entrance to 
which is the highest scholarship. This was the more creditable 
to him as he was compelled to absent himself from college two 
winters during his coarse, to earn money to go on with his 
education. His father was receiving a small salary, and had a 
large family to support. When sixteen years old, therefore, 
and a Sophomore, young Arthur left college, and obtaining a 
school at Schaghticoke, Rensselaer County, taught there through- 
out the winter. He also had to keep up his studies in college. 
In the last year of his college course he again taught during the 
winter at Schaghticoke. He was graduated, at eighteen years of 
age, from Union College, in the class of 1848. In college he had 
been very popular witlf his fellow-students, and had become a 
member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity, in whose welfare he ever 
after took a keen interest. 

At college he had determined to become a lawyer. Accord- 
ingly, upon graduation he went to a law school at Ballston 
Springs, and there remained diligently studying for several 
months. He then returned to Lansingburg, where his father 
then resided, and studied law. In 1851 he obtained a situation 
as principal of an academy at North Pownal, Bennington 
County, Vermont, He prepared boys for college, all the while 



398 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



studying law. Two years after he left North Pownal, in 1853, 
a student from Williams College named James A. Garfield 
came to that place, and in the same academy building taught 
penmanship throughout one winter. It was a singular cir- 
cumstance that after nearly a quarter of a century both these 
men should meet at a great political convention and unexpect- 
edly to themselves be chosen as the candidates of the Republican 
party for President and Vice-President. 

Mr. Arthur removed to New York in 1853 and entered the 
law office of E. D. Culver as a law student. By the strictest 
economy he had saved $500, and with this determined to start 
out in business life. He had known Mr. Culver when the lat- 
ter was a Congressman from Washington County, and when 
Mr. Arthur's father was pastor of the Baptist Church in the 
village of Greenwich, in that county. Mr. Culver was cele- 
brated in Congress for his firm anti-slavery principles. The 
association thus formed was the more congenial to young 
Arthur because of the strong anti-slavery sentiments which he 
had already derived from his father. Dr. Arthur had enjoyed 
the intimate friendship of Gerritt Smith, and that famous 
leader in true Republicanism had often been his guest, and 
several times occupied his pulpit. Together, at Utica, October 
21st, 1835, they had taken a perilous part in the first meeting of 
the New York Anti-Slavery Society, which was scattered by 
rioters, and its leaders mobbed on the very day when, in Bos- 
ton, a similar meeting had been broken up by a mob, and 
William Lloyd Garrison dragged through the streets by a rope 
until rescued by the Mayor and lodged in jail for his own pro- 
tection. # 

Admitted to the Bar in 1854, Mr. Arthur became at once a 
member of the firm of Culver, Parker & Arthur. 

Already there were signs of the coming struggle over slavery. 
Mr. Arthur's ability as a lawyer, as well as his strong anti- 
slavery sentiments, had already been shown by his successful 
management of the celebrated Lemmon slave case. In 1852, a 
slaveholder of Virginia named Jonathan Lemmon determined 
to take eight slaves to Texas. He brought them by steamer 
from Norfolk to New York, intending to reship them from New 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



399 



York for Texas. While in New York these slaves were discov- 
ered by a free colored man named Louis Napoleon. He had 
been told that slaves could not legally beheld in the State of 
New York. He accordingly presented a petition to Elijah 
Paine, a Justice of the Superior Court of New York, asking 
that a writ of habeas corpus be issued to the persons having 
the slaves in charge, commanding them to bring the slaves into 
court at once. Mr. Culver and John Jay appeared as counsel 
for the slaves, and H. D. Lapaugh and Henry L. Clinton for 
Lemmon. Judge Paine, after hearing long arguments, ordered 
the slaves released, affirming that the fugitive-slave law did 
not apply to them, and that no human creature could be held 
in bondage in the State, except under that national law. This 
decision created great excitement in the slave States, as it prac- 
tically made every slave free who should, not being a fugitive, 
be brought by his master into a free State. Governor Cobb, of 
Georgia, thought the decision would be "just cause for war." 
Governor Johnson, of Virginia, said: 

"In importance it is of the first magnitude, and in spirit it is without a 
parallel. If sustained, it will not only destroy that comity which should have 
subsisted between the several States composing this Confederacy, but must 
seriously affect the value of slave property wherever found." 

Inspired by this message, the Legislature of Virginia directed 
the Attorney -General of the State to employ counsel to appeal 
from the decision of Judge Paine to the higher courts of New 
York. Mr. Arthur went to Albany, and, after persistent effort, 
induced the Legislature of New York to take up the challenge ; 
and he procured the passage of a joint resolution requesting the 
Governor to appoint counsel to defend the interests of the 
State. Ogden Hoffman, then Attorney-General ; E. D. Culver 
and Joseph Blunt were appointed the counsel of the State. Mr. 
Arthur was the State's attorney in the matter, and upon the 
death of Ogden Hoffman he associated with him William M. 
Evarts as counsel. The Supreme Court sustained Judge Paine's 
decision. Thereupon, to strengthen their cause, the slavehold- 
ers engaged Charles O'Conor to argue the case before the Court 
of Appeals. But there again the counsel for the State were 
successful in defending Judge Paine's decision ; and thence- 



400 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



forth no slaveholder dared venture into the State of New York 
with his slaves. 

Mr. Arthur became such a champion of their interests in the 
eyes of the colored people by his connection with this case that 
it was natural they should seek his aid when n«^xt in trouble. 
The street car companies of New York, cringing to the senti- 
ments of the slaveholders, made almost no provision for the 
transportation of colored people. Upon several of the lines oc- 
casionally there could be seen passing by an old and shabby- 
looking car labeled, "Colored persons allowed in this car." 
Several of the lines did not make even this provision. This 
was the case of the rich Fourth Avenue line. One Sunday in 
1855, a neatly-dressed colored woman named Lizzie Jennings, 
who had just come from fulfilling her duties as superintendent 
of a colored Sunday-school, hailed a Fourth Avenue car. The 
car stopped, she took a seat, and the conductor took her fare — 
thus silently acknowledging her right to ride in the car. The 
car went on a block, and then a drunken white man said to the 
conductor : 

" Are you going to let that nigger ride in this car?" 

M Ob, I guess it wont make any difference," said the conductor. 

" Yes, but it will," answered the pro-slavery man : ki I have 
paid my fare, and I want a decent ride, and I tell you yotvve 
got to give me a decent ride. " 

Thereupon the conductor went to Lizzie Jennings and asked 
her to leave the car, offering to return her fare. She refused 
to comply with the request. The car was stopped and the con- 
ductor attempted to put her off by force. She strenuously re- 
sisted, all the while crying : "I have paid my fare and I am 
entitled to ride." Her clothing was almost torn from her body, 
but still she resisted, and resisted successfully. Finally, the 
conductor had to cali in several policemen, and by their efforts 
she was finally removed from the car. Influential colored peo- 
ple soon heard of her treatment, and going to the office of Cul- 
ver, Parker & Arthur, told them all about it. They at once 
told them that her wrongs should be righted. A suit was 
brought against the railway company in her behalf in the Su- 
preme Court in Brooklyn. Public sentiment was still on the 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



401 



side of the slaveholder, however, and even the judge seemed pre- 
judiced. When Mr. Arthur handed him the papers in the case, 
he said : "Pshaw ! do you ask me to try a case against a corpo- 
ration for the wrongful act of its agent ?" Mr. Arthur immedi- 
ately pointed out a section of the Revised Statutes under which 
the action had been brought, making a corporation liable for 
the acts of its servants. It could not be disputed, and upon trial 
of the case, judgment in favor of Lizzie Jennings to the 
amount of $500 was rendered. Without further contest the 
railroad company paid the mcney. It then issued orders to its 
conductors that colored people should be allowed to ride in 
their cars. All the city railroad companies followed the exam- 
ple. The " Colored People's Legal Rights Association " annu- 
ally for years celebrated the anniversary of the day on which 
Mr. Arthur won their celebrated case. 

It was in the year 1»56 that Mr. Arthur began to be prominent 
in politics in New York City. He had taken an active interest 
in politics elsewhere at a very early age. He sympathized with 
the Whig party, and was an ardent admirer of Henry Clay. It 
is related of him that during the contest between Polk and Clay, 
he was leader of the boys of Whig parentage in Greenwich 
village, who determined to raise an ash pole in honor of Henry 
Clay. They were attacked by the boys of Democratic parent- 
age while doing so, and for a time driven off the village green. 
But they were rallied by young Arthur and, he leading a des- 
perate charge, the Democrats were driven with broken heads 
from the field. Then, with a shout of triumph, the Whig boys 
raised the ash pole. His first vote was cast in 1852 for Winfield 
Scott for President. In New York City Arthur identified him- 
self with the " practical men " in politics by joining political 
associations of his party and at the polls acting as inspector on 
election day. 

Mr. Arthur was a delegate to the convention at Saratoga that 
founded the Republican party. During these political labors 
he became acquainted with Edwin D. Morgan and gained his 
ardent friendship. Governor Morgan, when re-elected in 1860, 
testified to his high esteem for Arthur by making him Engineer- 
in-Chief on his staff. 



402 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



Mr. Arthur had for several years previously taken a great 
interest in the militia organization of the State, and had been 
appointed Judge Advocate General of the Second Brigade. In 
this position he was associated with many men who afterward 
took part in the War of the Rebellion and held high positions. 
Brigadier- General Yates, who commanded the Second Brigade, 
was a very thorough disciplinarian, and for several years 
required all the brigade and staff officers to meet every week 
for instruction. In this mauner they became very proficient 
in military tactics and regulations, and the instruction proved 
to be of inestimable advantage to General Arthur in the great 
and exceedingly responsible duties to which he was soon to be 
called. 

The breaking out of the War of the Rebellion in April, 1861, 
found him still Engineer- in-Chief . The day after Fort Sumter 
was fired upon, while on the way to his law office, he received a 
dispatch from Governor Morgan summoning him to Albany. 
Upon reaching there Governor Morgan requested him to open 
a branch Quartermaster's Department in New York City, and 
fulfill all the duties there of Quartermaster-General. General 
Arthur was young, strong and, as Governor Morgan saw, of a 
vigorous nature. The Governor put in his hands the duty of 
quartering, subsisting, uniforming, equipping and arming New 
York's soldiers for war. It was not only a herculean task, but 
was one of special difficulty, for there was no broad road of ex- 
perience to guide the young man. Men who had been trained 
in the small regular Army, or in the still smaller State militia 
regiments, were staggered by the enormous tasks set before 
them in the equipment and forwarding of several hundred 
thousand men to the seat of war. There was nothing for which 
General Arthur afterward received higher praise than the way 
he rose to the height of the occasion in all difficulties that beset 
him in the toilsome years which followed. He was the brains, 
the organizing force, that look the raw levies of New York, 
put uniforms on their backs, muskets in their hands, and sent 
them on to the war. Governor Morgan practically made 
him the War Minister of the State, shifting him from place to 
place on his staff, and from time to time transferring to him 



\ 

\ 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



403 



the duties of other military officers of the State, in order that 
the work might be properly and quickly done. He was virtually 
the centre about which all the military operations of the State 
revolved. He did not go near his law office during the first two 
years of the war. His task was to create, almost out of noth- 
ing, a great department for the provision and equipment of an 
army. He succeeded, and had the proud satisfaction of seeing 
that New York had sent one-fifth of all the soldiers that 
marched to subdue the Rebellion — a splendid contingent of 
690,000 men. 

It is well to recall some details of his work at this time. 
When he began in New York, in April, 1861, to perform the 
work of Quartermaster-General, there were thousands of enlisted 
men in the city to be subsisted and equipped, the militia regi- 
ments were departing for the war from this State, and New 
England regiments were passing through the city. All these 
regiments had to be fed and quarters provided for them — where 
none existed. Wealthy citizens of New York aided General 
Arthur generously, giving him the right to occupy their build- 
ings. Mr. Astor, Mr. Devlin and Mr. Goelet were conspicuous 
in this service. The number of troops passing through the city 
finally became so great that it was found necessary to provide 
more quarters for them. Then it was that barracks were 
erected in the City Hall Park. To get them ready for the troops, 
workmen, under General Arthur's direction, worked night and 
day. Meanwhile, the work of creating a Quartermaster's De- 
partment went on. General Arthur advertised for proposals 
for subsistence for the troops, and succeeded in making a con- 
tract at rates one-third lower than those paid by the United 
States Government. This saved the State many thousands of 
dollars. Everything was done in a business-like way ; from the 
first day the quartermaster's stores were issued on regular Army 
requisitions, and receipts were demanded for everything. It was 
natural that contractors should seek to ingratiate themselves 
with a man who was buying such enormous quantities of sup- 
plies. But every present that reached Mr. Arthur with this 
motive was at once returned to the sender. 

The troops poured into New York by the thousands, and it 



404 



LIVES OF OUE PRESIDENTS. 



was found necessary every day to provide additional quarters. 
General Arthur built more barracks at various places on Long 
Island, on Staten Island and Bikers Island. The first quota of 
the State, outside of the militia regiments, was for thirty-eight 
regiments. These regiments were organized in different parts 
of t>e State in the Spring of 1861. The work of quartering, 
subsisting, uniforming, equipping and arming these regiments 
went on without regard to Sunday or the hours of sleep. For 
months General Arthur did not sleep over three hours a night. 
"Whoever had any business connected with the army came to 
the State headquarters in Elm street (afterward in Walker 
street), and consequently Arthur's office was constantly 
besieged by crowds. All sorts of adventurers went on to Wash- 
ington, obtained commissions to raise troops, and returning to 
New York began their work. All these classes required the 
close supervision of General Arthur, as they would endeavor to 
act independently of his office. His ability to deal with these 
men, many of whom were of a very rough character, was 
highly praised at the time. Several instances of his energetic 
action are remembered to this day. One of the adventurers 
was " Billy " Wilson, who had been the representative in the 
New York Board of Aldermen of the roughest element of the 
city population, and who had been authorized at Washington 
to raise a regiment from this class. The regiment at one time 
refused to eat the Government rations and supported itself by 
raiding on the restaurants in the vicinity of its barracks. 
General Arthur, hearing of these outrages, sent for Wilson, and 
told him that he must put an end to them. Wilson thereupon 
said, in an impudent manner : 

' * Neither you nor the Governor has anything to do with me. 
I am a colonel in the United States service, and you've got no 
right to order me." 

" You are not a colonel," indignantly replied Arthur, " and 
you will not be until you have raised your regiment to its quota 
of men and received your commission." 

"Well, I've got my shoulder-straps, anyway," said Wilson, 
''and as long as I wear them I don't want no orders from any of 
you fellows." 



CHESTER A, ARTHUR. 



405 



He had scarcely made this insolent reply, when Arthur, who 
is a very strong man, sprang toward him, saying : 

4 4 We'll make short work of your shoulder-straps," and tear- 
ing the straps from Wilson's shoulders, put him under arrest. 

He had a similar experience with Colonel Ellsworth's Fire 
Zouaves, who were quartered in Devlin's building, on Canal 
street. One day the members of the regiment refused to un- 
pack their muskets from the boxes in which they had been re- 
ceived* General Arthur having been applied to by Colonel 
Ellsworth, went among the throng with several policemen, had 
the ringleaders in the revolt pointed out to him, and said : 
44 Arrest that man, and that one, and that one." His orders 
were obeyed, the regiment was cowed, and there were no more 
revolts of that nature. The regiment had an amusing experi- 
ence on starting for the war. It was organized on the very 
original plan of having attached to it a battery of light artil- 
lery and a troop of cavalry. Furthermore, it had 120 men to the 
company, being more than the regulation complement. The 
War Department sent orders to Governor Morgan that the regi- 
ment should not be mustered into the service or leave the city 
until it had equalized or reduced its companies. But that very 
day the regiment, 1,300 strong, had received a stand of colors 
from Mrs. Astor, in Canal street, and was on its way to the 
steamer Baltic, to take passage for the South. General Wool 
had reviewed the regiment, and, induced by the persuasion of 
the officers of the regiment, had rescinded the order for its de- 
tention. The regiment had then marched proudly to the troop- 
ship, which soon afterward steamed down the harbor. An 
hour after the steamer had sailed an officer strolled into the 
Elm street headquarters and said accidentally : 

4 4 Well, the Fire Zouaves have got off at last." 

4 4 Got off ? " said Arthur, in amazement ; 4 ' that's not possible. 
Orders have been received from Washington, forbidding them 
to leave, and there is not a pound of provisions of any sort on 
the troop-ship, as I countermanded the order which had been 
given." 

It was clear that the regiment must be provided for at short 
notice. General Arthur jumped into a carriage, drove to an 



406 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



army contractor, and ordered the rations. " Impossible to sup- 
ply them at such short notice," said the contractor. 4 4 It's not 
impossible, and you must do it. I will pay you fifty cents, 
instead of the usual rate of thirty-five cents a ration, and will 
have them transported myself to the Baltic." Stimulated by 
this reward, the contractor got together five days' rations for 
1,300 men in an hour. Arthur, meanwhile, had hired every tug 
he could obtain. He put the rations on these tugs, caught up 
with the Baltic at the Narrows— where the regimental officers 
had discovered the deficiency and come to anchor — and pro- 
visioned the ship. The Baltic sailed the same night. 

The " Ulster County Guards," in which the present General 
George H. Sharpe was a captain, was a regiment of excellent 
character. It was composed of men from the finest families of 
Ulster County. On their way to Washington they occupied 
the Park Barracks on the night they were completed. They 
had hardly got possession before orders came from the War 
Department to Governor Morgan that the regiment should re- 
turn home, as no more three-months regiments were to be 
accepted. The regiment was almost beside itself with rage and 
disappointment. Thereupon Arthur took a night train for 
Albany, described to Governor Morgan the martial character 
of the regiment and the damaging effect of its being compelled 
to return home, and insisted upon its being sent onto Washing- 
ton. He obtained the necessary permission, and returned to 
New York by a special train. He reached the barracks at one 
A. M., and told the good news. The joy of the regiment was 
indescribable. A volunteer regiment was thus saved the ser- 
vice, for nearly all re-enlisted for three years at the end of their 
three months' service. The regiment throughout the war 
named its camps " Camp Arthur," in gratitude for this service 
of General Arthur. 

It was his readiness to deal with such matters that led Gov- 
ernor Morgan to intrust Arthur with the management of the 
war affairs of the State. As the immediate representative of^ 
Governor Morgan he became known to army officers from 
every section, and this was the foundation of his large per- 
sonal acquaintance in the State. 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



407 



In the fall of 1861, after thirty-eight regiments had been fur- 
nished, it was seen that the Government would be glad to accept 
troops without limit ; and as the State had furnished the full 
quota of those regularly called for through the Governor, num- 
bers of men of desperate fortunes, adventurers, went to Washing- 
ton and obtained authority to raise regiments. They came to New 
York and began to raise troops, claiming to be independent of 
State authority. There were parts of over a hundred regiments 
being raised at one time. General Arthur made an investiga- 
tion as to the character of these adventurers, and found that 
many of them were men of bad antecedents. One of them, who 
afterward adorned Ludlow Street Jail, advertised for " young 
gentlemen of pious character " for his regiment, and sold com- 
missions in the regiment. Another hired the old New York 
Club House, then vacant, ordered a service of plate, furnished 
the house handsomely and ran into debt to tradesmen all over 
the city, ostensibly in behalf of the regiment . These men defied 
the authority of the State officers. Arthur advised Governor 
Morgan to claim from the United States Government supervision 
over all the troops raised in New York, as Governor of the State, 
and also to obtain the commission of major-general in the United 
States service. Governor Morgan, accompanied by General Ar- 
thur, went on to Washington, and Arthur depicted to the W ar 
Department officials the character of the men they had commis- 
sioned. The officials were amazed at the result of their indis- 
criminate issue of authorizations to raise independent regiments, 
and readily consented to the suggestion that Governor Morgan 
should be made a major-general, that a Department of New York 
should be established and that all the independent organiza- 
tions should be put under Governor Morgan's authority. At 
this time Arthur was Acting Adjutant-General of New York, 
and was also actually doing the work of the Engineer-in-Chief, 
Inspector- General and Quartermaster-General. As Inspector- 
General, he afterward consolidated all the uncompleted regi- 
ments in the State. 

One Sunday in March, 1862, there came hurrying into his 
office, almost breathless, and very red in the face, Colonel Gus- 
tavus Loomis, the oldest regular infantry officer in the service. 



408 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



"What in the world has happened, Colonel?" said Arthur, 
offering the veteran a chair* 

14 The rebel ram Merrimac I The rebel ram Merrimac" faintly 
said Colonel Loomis. 

" Well, what about her ?" 

"I ha^e a dispatch from General McClellan saying that she 
has sunk two United States ships — that she is coming to New 
York to shell the city — may be expected at any moment — I'm so 
out of breath running to tell you the news, that I can hardly 
speak." 

General Arthur hastened to General Sanford, who com- 
manded the First Division of New York State Militia, and had 
him send to the forts in the harbor, from his artillery regiment, 
such men as had been trained to the use of heavy ordnance ; 
Colonel Loomis having reported that the forts were filled with 
regular recruits who didn't know how to handle the guns. It 
was then discovered that there was no powder in the forts ; 
but fortunately a schooner arrived from Connecticut that day 
loaded with powder, and Arthur sent it to the forts. He then 
hurried to the house of Mayor Opdyke, to inform him of the 
situation. The Mayor, on receiving the alarming news, sum- 
moned to his house many eminent citizens. They proposed to 
sink ships loaded with stone in the Narrows and thus bar the 
approach of the Merrimac to the city. General Arthur pro- 
tested that he would have nothing to do with a scheme that 
might close the harbor for years to come. The council dis- 
solved without adopting any plan for the protection of the 
city. Fortunately for New York, news came during the night 
that the Monitor had reached Hampton Roads that day and 
had sunk the Merrimac. 

This was not the first occasion when General Arthur had 
to do with the defense of the seaport of New York during the 
war. When Mason and Slidell were taken from the Trent by 
Captain Wilkes, and war seemed imminent with England, one 
day in December, 1861, Arthur summoned the most eminent 
engineers in the State to meet him in New York to consult 
about the defenses of the harbor. For two months this Board 
of Engineers, of which he was a member, labored constantly, 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



409 



and at the end of that time produced a plan for the defense of 
the harbor which won universal praise. Before its completion, 
war with England seeming at hand, the erection of a tempo- 
rary barrier across the harbor was proposed. Colonel Delafield, 
of the United States Engineers, had suggested that it would be 
practicable to construct a barrier consisting of cribs of timber 
loaded with stone, and connected and held in place by chain 
cables. An immense amount of timber was needed for such a 
barrier and there was no State appropriation with which to buy 
it. Genera] Arthur took upon himself the responsibility of buy- 
ing it. He went to Albany and in a day got the refusal of all 
the timber there and along the river. He also made a contract 
for the timber then being rafted down the Hudson. Unluckily, 
the day after the purchase was made the Hudson froze, and it 
was plain that it would be impossible to deliver it before spring. 
Undaunted, he returned immediately to New York and bought 
up most of the timber there. Before the proposed barrier could 
be erected, however, Mason and Slidell were surrendered to Eng- 
land and all danger of war passed away. But the State had 
upon its hands the immense quantity of timber he had bought, 
and grumblers severely criticised the purchase in the State 
Senate. General Arthur having been sent for by the Governor 
to advise about the disposition of the timber, went to Albany 
and had a bill then before the Legislature in regard to war ex- 
penditures amended so as to provide for the sale of unused war 
material. The bill passed, was at once signed by Governor 
Morgan, and the timber was sold soon afterward at a profit to 
the State. 

In February, 1862, Arthur was appointed Inspector-General, 
there being duty to perform with the armies in the field. In 
May, 1862, he went to Fredericksburg, and inspected the New 
York troops there under the command of General McDowell. 
He then went to the Army of the Potomac, lying near the 
Chickahominy, and there carefully inspected the New York 
troops with a view of having the depleted regiments then in 
service filled by enlistments to their proper strength, instead of 
having new regiments raised. As an advance on Richmond 
was daily expected, he volunteered for duty on the staff of his 



410 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



friend Major-General Hunt, commander of the reserve artillery. 
It is well to state here that shortly after the commencement of 
the war General Arthur was offered the command of the Ninth 
New York Militia, which enlisted in the United States service 
for two years, and desired to accept the post, but Governor 
Morgan would not release Mm from the more important work. 
The year afterward, when four volunteer regiments had been 
formed through the efforts of the Metropolitan Police Com- 
missioners of the City of New York, in which they were largely 
aided by General Arthur, the colonels of the regiments offered 
him the command of the brigade, known as the " Metropolitan 
Brigade." He thereupon made formal application to the 
Governor for permission to accept the command, saying that it 
had long been his desire to have active service in the field. 
Governor Morgan replied that he could not be spared from the 
service of the State, and that while he appreciated Arthur's 
desire for war service, he knew he would do far more valuable 
service for the country by continuing at his post of duty in 
New York State. 

In June, 1862, the affairs of the country looked desperate. 
There had been defeats, regiments were getting thinned out, 
and it was evident a great levy would have to be made. Gov- 
ernor Morgan telegraphed General Arthur, then with the Army 
of the Potomac, to return to New York. He did so, and was 
immediately requested to act as secretary at a secret meeting of 
the Governors of loyal States, held at the Astor House on July 
28th, 1862. At this meeting President Lincoln was requested 
by the Governors to call for more men. President Lincoln, on 
July 1st, issued a proclamation thanking the Governors for their 
patriotism and calling for 300,000 volunteers and 300,000 militia 
for nine months' service. Private knowledge that such a call 
was to be issued would have enabled contractors to have made 
millions. The secret was kept by all, however, till the procla- 
mation was issued. The quota of New York under the call for 
300,000 volunteers was 59,705. It was desired that these sixty 
regiments should be recruited and got to the seat of war at the 
earliest possible moment. In view of the fact that the greater 
part of the labor would fall upon the Quartermaster's Depart- 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



411 



ment, the request was made by Governor Morgan to Arthur 
that he should take his old post. He complied, and on July 7th, 
1862, again became Quartermaster-General, and set energet- 
ically to work. 

The incoming of a Democratic State Administration deprived 
him of his office in December, 1863. His Democratic successor 
made a most favorable comment upon General Arthur's admin- 
istration in his annual report to Governor Seymour. 

Upon his retirement from office General Arthur resumed the 
active duties of his profession. His partnership with Mr. Gar- 
diner ceased only with that gentleman's death in 1866. Alone 
for over five years he carried on his law practice. It then be- 
came so large that he formed, in 1871, the now well-known 
firm of Arthur, Phelps, Knevals & Ransom. He became coun- 
sel to the Department of Taxes and Assessments, at a salary of 
$10,000 yearly, but abruptly resigned the position when the 
Tammany Hall officials at the head of the New York depart- 
ments attempted to coerce the Eepublicans connected with 
those departments. 

Gradually he was drawn into political life again. He was 
very much interested in promoting the first election of President 
Grant, being chairman of the Central Grant Club of New York. 
He also served as chairman of the Executive Committee of the 
Republican State Committee of New York. He re-entered 
official life on November 20th, 1871, being appointed Collector 
of the Port of New York by President Grant. The post of Col- 
lector came to him unsought and unexpectedly, and was ac- 
cepted with much hesitation. 

The appointment met with the general approval of the busi- 
ness community, many of the merchants having become per- 
sonally acquainted with General Arthur during the war. He 
instituted many reforms in the management of the Custom 
House— all calculated to render the business there less vex- 
atious than it ordinarily is to the mercantile classes. He also 
performed the work of a Collector in the matter of appoint- 
ments and removals in the Custom House in such a manner as 
to cause less than the usual amount of commotion among poli- 
ticians. The number of removals during his administration 



412 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



was far less than during the rule of any other Collector since 
1857. New appointees were put in the lowest grades of Custom 
House service and compelled to work their way up to higher 
positions. So satisfactory was his work that upon the close of 
his term of office, in December, 1875, he was renominated by 
President Grant. The nomination was unanimously confirmed 
by the Senate without referring it to a committee — a compli- 
ment never given before except to ex-Senators. He was the 
first Collector of the Port ever reappointed for a second term, 
and was, with only one or two exceptions, the only one who in 
fifty years ever held the office for more than the whole term of 
four years. 

General Arthur was succeeded as Collector in 1878 by General 
E. A. Merritt. He then resumed the practice of his profession. 
In the fall of 1879 he was elected chairman of the Republican 
State Committee, of which he had been a prominent member 
for many years before his appointment as Collector, and con- 
ducted the victorious campaign of that year, which ended in 
the election of all but one of the candidates of the Republican 
party for six State offices. 

General Arthur was married in 1859 to Ellen Lewis Herndon, 
of Fredericksburg, Virginia. She was a daughter of Captain 
William Lewis Herndon, U. S. N., who in 1851-2 gained world- 
wide fame as commander of the naval expedition sent by the 
United States to explore the River Amazon. The heroic death 
of Captain Herndon, while in command of the United States 
mail steamship Central America, some twenty years ago, is still 
fresh in the memory of many, and was one of the noble deeds 
of which the American Navy will always be proud. Mrs. Arthur 
died suddenly in the early part of January, 1880, leaving two 
children, Chester Alan Arthur and Ellen Herndon Arthur. 

In June, 1880, General Arthur was nominated for Vice- 
President by the National Republican Convention, held at 
Chicago. General Stewart L. Woodford proposed his name in 
the convention ; and the nomination was seconded by ex- 
Governor Dennison, of Ohio ; General Kilpatrick, of New 
Jersey ; Emory A. Storrs, of Illinois ; John Cessna, of Pennsyl- 
vania ; Chauncey L. Filley, of Missouri, and many others. 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



413 



The election resulted in the choice of Garfield and Arthur, 
and on the 4th of March, 1881, at the extra session of the Senate, 
General Arthur was inaugurated as Vice-President and entered 
at once upon his duties as presiding officer of the Senate. 

For a short time the administration moved smoothly, but 
subsequently there arose a conflict between President Garfield 
and Senator Conkling, mainly in reference to the appointment 
of a Collector of Customs for New York. In this quarrel Gen- 
eral Arthur took sides with the New York Senator, and a hot 
contest ensued which split the Republican party into factions. 
That faction which sided with Senator Conkling were called 
"Stalwarts," while those of the other faction, who supported the 
President, were termed "Half Breeds." It is probable that the 
appointment of James G. Blaine to a seat in President Garfield's 
Cabinet was the first firebrand thrown into the ranks of Senator 
Conkling and the members of the party who had supported the 
nomination of General Grant and fiercely fought the Blaine 
party at the National Convention, and culminating on the Col- 
leetorship, resulted in the resignation of the New York 
Senators Conkling and Piatt. 

This was the condition of affairs when the assassination of 
President Garfield occurred, and immediately all party bitterness 
was ended in the universal grief, sympathy and anxiety of the 
entire country, regardless of political differences. During the 
long and terrible suffering of the President, General Arthur 
acted with the truest nobility of soul and a modesty that is 
worthy of emulation. He refrained from exercising any of 
the duties of the Executive, so that the President might not be 
affected even in the slightest degree by a thought of the emer- 
gency, and his every utterance breathed sympathy for the 
suffering President and his grief-stricken family. A letter 
written at the time said of him : 

" As G eneral Arthur sat in Senator Jones' parlor to- night, he looked like a 
man full of anxiety and sorrow. He scarcely spoke a word to his friend the 
Senator, and often did not answer questions that were put to him. Aside 
from the grief which the Vice-President naturally felt in his deplorable con- 
dition, there is the dreadful sense of the great responsibility that must be 
laid upon him if the President should not recover 1 " 



414 



LIVES OF OUR PRESIDENTS. 



During the long, weary weeks that followed, General 
Arthur returned to his home in New York, and exhibited 
such delicacy of feeling in his reluctance to assume any of the 
executive duties while the President lived, that he won the 
highest respect even of his political enemies. 

But the day was rapidly approaching when he would find 
the frail life-threads of the assassinated President snapped 
asunder, and he would be called upon to take up the mantle 
like Joshua of old, when Moses died upon the mountain top. 

On the 19th of September, the members of the Cabinet, who 
had remained at Elberon until the end, sent the following 
telegram to General Arthur : 

" Hon. Chester A. Arthur, No. 123 Lexington avenue, New York: 

kt It becomes our painful duty to inform you of the death of President 
Garfield, and to advise you to take the oath of office without delay. If it 
concurs with your judgment, we will be very glad if you will come down 
on the earliest train to-morrow morning." 

This was signed by the Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary 
of the Navy, Postmaster General, Attorney-General and Secre- 
tary of the Interior. 

To this General Arthur at once sent a reply, to Hon. Wayne 
MacVeagh, the Attorney-General, expressing his great grief at 
the intelligence and extending his deepest sympathy to Mrs. 
Garfield. His next step was to send immediately for Hon. John 
R. Brady, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New 
York, before whom he took the oath of office as President of 
the United States. 

After the oath was administered, President Arthur sent the 
following telegram to the members of the Cabinet : 

"New York, Sept. 20, 1881. 
14 1 have your message announcing the death of President Garfield. Per- 
mit me to renew through you the expression of sorrow and sympathy 
which I have already telegraphed to Attorney-General MacVeagh. In ac- 
cordance with your suggestion, I have taken the oath of office as President 
before the Hon John R. Brady, Justice of the Supreme Court of the 
State of New York. I will soon advise you further in regard to the other 
suggestions in your telegram. C. A. Arthur." 



President Arthur soon after met the members of the Cabinet 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



415 



at Long Branch, and after attending the funeral services at 
Elberon, he accompanied the funeral train to Washington, 
where on the next day he underwent the formal ceremony of 
again taking the oath of office as President, before the Chief 
Justice of the United States. 

The first official act of President Arthur was to issue a proc- 
lamation setting forth the 26th day of September as a day of 
humiliation and prayer on account of the death of the late 
President. 

Since then President Arthur has given the country a most 
excellent administration, and has performed the executive 
duties with great ability, dignity and credit, winning the con- 
fidence and respect of all. It is our wish and hope that he 
may retire at the expiration of his term loaded with honors 
and cherished in the hearts of his countrymen as one of the 
most upright men who has filled the high position of the Chief 
Executive of the nation. 



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